Doc Sadler Named Kansas Men's Basketball Director of Basketball Operations
June 13, 2012
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Doc Sadler has been named the director of basketball operations for Kansas men’s basketball, KU head coach Bill Self announced Wednesday.
Sadler replaces Barry Hinson who served in the position for two seasons, four total on the KU staff, before taking over as head coach at Southern Illinois following Kansas’ run to the NCAA Tournament title game in April 2012.
“I am excited to announce that Doc Sadler has accepted the position of director of basketball operations in our program,” Self said. “I’ve known Doc for 25 years and have certainly followed his career. Watching his career at UTEP and seeing and competing against him when he was at Nebraska sold me on his ability for him to come in here and make us better.”
“Very few programs in the country have the experience that our staff will have with Joe (Dooley), Kurtis (Townsend), Norm (Roberts) and now adding Doc into the mix,” Self said. “We lost two great coaches this past year due to staff turnover – Danny (Manning) getting the job at Tulsa and Barry (Hinson) getting the job at Southern Illinois. We replace them with Norm Roberts who is a terrific coach and recruiter and was a head coach at St. John’s for six years and Doc Sadler who has done just about everything and has been a head Division I coach for eight years. I’m excited. My batteries are charged and I know he’s ready to get to work July 1.”
“This is an unbelievable opportunity to have a chance to get back into college basketball,” Sadler said. “When making decisions, I really thought I would sit out this year but when this came along I don’t think anyone would ever pass it up. I am thankful to Coach Self in giving me this opportunity. To be part of a program such as Kansas is unbelievable.”
Sadler comes to KU after serving six seasons as head coach at Nebraska where he posted a 101-89 record. His 101 wins are fourth all-time at NU. Sadler guided Nebraska to three postseason appearances, with the Huskers advancing to the NIT in 2008, 2009 and 2011. His 2009 team finished Big 12 play with an 8-8 league record, the Huskers’ best conference mark in a decade, and his 2008 team posted a 20-13 record, giving NU its first 20-win season since 1999. Overall, at Nebraska Sadler owned eight wins against ranked squads in six years.
Under Sadler at Nebraska, more than 80 percent of seniors who finished their eligibility received their degrees at NU. Additionally, as a head coach, Sadler has mentored 19 players who went on to play in the NBA.
Prior to Nebraska, Sadler spent two seasons as the head coach at UTEP, where he compiled a 48-18 record with the Miners: 27-8 in 2005 and 21-10 in 2006. His 27 wins in 2005 rank ninth on the NCAA list for first-year head coaches.
Guiding teams to nine postseason appearances as a head coach, Sadler’s first head stint was at Arkansas-Fort Smith from 1998-99 through 2002-03. He has a career coaching record of 269-146 in 13 seasons, including a Division I record of 149-107 in eight seasons.
A native of Greenwood, Ark., Sadler also served one season as a high school coach, guiding County Line High School to a 38-7 record.
As an assistant coach, Sadler worked at seven current Division I schools, including Arkansas (1982-85, under Eddie Sutton), Lamar (1985-86, under Pat Foster), Houston (1986), Chicago State (1987-88, under Tommy Suitts), Texas Tech (1991-94, under James Dickey), Arizona State (1994-97, under Bill Freider) and UTEP (2003-04, under Billy Gillispie).
Over 12 full seasons as a Division I assistant coach, nine of his teams reached the postseason.
A 1982 graduate of the University of Arkansas with a bachelor’s degree in physical education, Sadler was a four-year student manager for the Razorbacks under Sutton. Sadler would later go on to receive his master’s degree in education from Northeastern State in 1991.
Sadler and his wife, Tonya, who is also a native of Greenwood, Ark., have two sons, Landon and Matthew.
