Seiji Wood
Sports Editor
Women’s basketball head coach, Seton Sobolewski, has agreed to a five-year contract extension. The extension was announced by ISU athletic director, Jeff Tingey and will keep Coach Sobolewski at ISU through May 23, 2023.
Sobolewski, who is the program’s winningest coach, holds an overall record of 171-142 and a conference record of 101-75. He enters his 10th year at the helm this winter.
“It feels good,” Sobolewski said in a press release. “I’m just really happy that Jeff and the community and the university like what we have been doing. My family and I, we really feel we are a part of this community now. We probably have been for some time, but it’s nice that we get to stay here and raise our kids in a very safe community and let them go to good schools and be in a place where we can be happy.”
Sobolewski became the Bengal’s head coach prior to the 2008-09 season. He’s led the Bengal’s to a fourth-place finish in the Big Sky Conference and has had a winning record in all but two seasons. He also won Big Sky Coach of the Year honors in 2012 after leading the Bengal’s to a 24-8 record, which was the second-best record in program history. That year Sobolewski conquered the Big Sky tournament and regular-season championship and went to the NCAA tournament for the third time.
In the 2013-2014 season, Sobolewski surpassed Jon Newlee for most wins at ISU with his 94th victory over Northern Arizona on February 1. Sobolewski also led ISU to back-to-back championship games in the conference tournament in the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
His 2017 team featured three all-conference honorees as Freya Newton secured Co-Defensive Player of the Year, Estafania Ors secured Outstanding Freshman of the Year and Saylair Grandon earned third team all-Big Sky honors.
Under Sobolewski’s reign, the women’s basketball team posted a 981 APR for the 2016-17 season, bringing their four-year average to 991.
ISU also secured another 20-plus win season and the NCAA’s Most Improved Field Goal Shooting Award in 2017-18.
“I’m really excited about the players we have committed right now,” Sobolewski said. “People are coming in and I think they’re going to keep the level of success, on and off the court, really high.”
