HELENA — Carroll College on Monday named Ryan Lundgren the 28th head men's basketball coach in school history.
Lundgren comes to Carroll from the College of Southern Idaho, where he served as associate head coach for the past four seasons. Lundgren replaces Kurt Paulson, who resigned in early June. Carroll made the announcement via press release.
"Ryan has a track record of being part of highly competitive basketball programs, where he has demonstrated his commitment to ensuring success on the court, achievement in the classroom, and engagement in the community," Carroll athletic director Charlie Gross said in the release.
"He is known to be a tireless recruiter who can connect with people easily. With Ryan's leadership, I am confident that the Carroll basketball program will continue to compete for Frontier Conference championships, be a perennial power in the NAIA, and model excellence in all they do."
This past season, the College of Southern Idaho finished the regular season undefeated (29-0) for the first time since 1977, finishing the year as the No. 1 team in the NJCAA rankings. In Lundgren's tenure, CSI secured two Scenic West Conference regular season titles (2021,2023) and a conference tournament title in 2023.
CSI made three straight appearances at the NCJAA national tournament (2021, 2022 2023). In that time, CSI led the Scenic West Conference in defensive rebounding and defensive field goal percentage in each of the past three seasons, and Lundgren has recruited and coached four NJCAA All-Americans over the past five seasons — Isaiah Moses, Rob Whaley, Mike Hood, Deng Dut.
Prior to CSI, Lundgren was the boys head coach at Vallivue High School in Caldwell, Idaho, from 2015 to 2019. In his first two seasons at the helm, Lundgren’s teams surpassed the win total from the previous six seasons combined. He was named the 2016-17 Idaho Press Tribune boys athletics coach of the year, a season in which his team finished runner-up in the Idaho 4A state tournament. In 2018-19 the team finished as the 4A Southern Idaho Conference regular-season champions.
"The strong tradition of excellence at Carroll dates back many years and it is truly a blessing to be entrusted with the opportunity to carry on that storied tradition," Lundgren stated in the Carroll release. "Fans and community members can expect an exciting brand of basketball on the court, and young men of high character that the Helena community can be proud of off the court. My family and I can't wait to get started on this new adventure."
An introductory press conference will be held on Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the Carroll College PE Center.
