Dustin Pfeifer
He is Dustin Pfeifer, a Colby, Kan., native who has spent the past year as assistant men’s basketball coach at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Okla.
“I’ve known Dustin for about 10 years, and he has been a winner at every level and at every school he has been at as a coach and a player,” Walker said. “He is extremely loyal, and his work ethic, recruiting connections and understanding of what we want to do here will make him a great fit for Grizzly Basketball. He played for an NJCAA Hall of Famer in Lowell Roumph at Northeastern Junior College, so he understands what it takes to run a successful program at this level. We are very fortunate to have a coach of Dustin’s caliber here at Missouri State University-West Plains.”
“I am very honored for the opportunity to be part of the Missouri State University-West Plains basketball program,” Pfeifer said. “I look forward to working for and with great people in West Plains, especially Dr. Herb Lunday (Dean of Student Services/Athletic Director), Chancellor Drew Bennett and Head Coach Yancey Walker, who gave me the opportunity to be part of the outstanding Grizzly tradition. My wife, Amber, and I are very excited to become part of this supportive community.”
Pfeifer has spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach, first as a student assistant men’s basketball coach at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kan., then as a graduate assistant coach at Fort Hays for two seasons, then as assistant coach at Northwestern Oklahoma. While at Fort Hays, the Tigers had an overall 40-19 record, were ranked No. 1 in the nation in NCAA Division II for three consecutive weeks (2005-06 season) and earned a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship. He coached one all-region, one all-American and three all-conference players, as well as one Conference Defensive Player of the Year and one Conference Player of the Year.
At Northwestern, the Rangers posted an 18-11 overall record and ranked as high as 18th nationally in NAIA Division I. Pfeifer coached one all-American, two all-Sooner Conference, two academic all-conference and one academic all-American players, as well as the Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
As a player, Pfeifer helped lead his Colby High School basketball team to the 1999 Class 4A Kansas State High School state championship before joining Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo., where he finished the 2002-03 season among the top 10 three-point shooters in Region 9 with a 44 percent shooting percentage. During his tenure at Northeastern, the Plainsmen were ranked as high as 10th in the NJCAA Poll. He also earned academic all-region honors with a 3.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.
Pfeifer earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Human Performance from Fort Hays State in 2005, receiving the Fort Hays State University Academic Excellence Award that same year, and his Master of Science degree in Health and Human Performance from Fort Hays State in 2007, earning the Academic Excellence Award in 2006 and 2007.