Seth Minter enters his eighth season at Western Illinois and his seventh as the program’s Associate Head Coach. Among his duties are recruiting, on-the-court coaching, player development, developing scouting reports, scheduling games and coordinating camp.
"Seth has grown from a young DI assistant to an accomplished associate head coach," said head coach JD Gravina. "He is involved in every decision that is made in our program and has taken a leadership role on the defensive end. Coach Minter brought changes to our defensive philosophy that resulted in us decreasing our opponent points per game by eight points and our field goal defense by four percent. He is establishing himself as one of the premier DI assistants in the nation."
For the 2017-18 season, Minter helped lead the team to its second consecutive 20-plus win season, which marks the first time since 2002-04 for the program’s history. On Nov. 18, 2017, Minter and the Leathernecks earned perhaps the most monumental win in program history: a victory over then-No. 18 Stanford. This marked the first-ever win over a nationally-ranked opponent in Western Illinois Women’s Basketball history. Minter also helped guide the team to its third-straight appearance in a postseason (the WNIT in 2018).
Once again, the Leathernecks ranked in the top-10 nationally in multiple categories (steals, steals per game, three-point field goals made, three-point field goals made per game and turnover margin) and saw a combined 11 individual and team records broken. The team also set a new program record with an 81.1 scoring average that ranked 12th nationally.
For the 2016-17 campaign, the Leathernecks broke a combined 15 individual and team program records, and saw a record-breaking five different members of the women’s basketball team combine for a total of eight regular season awards. In his fifth year as the Associate Head Coach, Minter helped Western earn a Summit League Regular and Tournament Championship, along with reaching the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament for the first time since 1995.
The Leathernecks also set the best record in program history (26-7) and finished 13-1 inside Western Hall. Minter also helped the Leathernecks finish the 2016-17 season ranked in the Top-10 nationally in steals, 3-pointers made, 3-pointers made per game, turnover margin, assist to turnover ratio and assists per game.
In 2015-16, Minter helped guide WIU to the first post-season win in program history (WBI – 2nd Round), as well as the program’s first post-season berth and consecutive .500-or-better seasons (16-16 in 2015-16, 17-13 in 2014-15) for the first time in 10 seasons.
Minter also guided WIU to its four highest scoring seasons in program history, including a program-record of 2,434 points in 2015-16. Part of the team’s scoring success is attributed to having led WIU to the five highest number of 3-point field goals made and attempted in program history.
Minter has recruited and coached 11 All-Summit League selections and six All-Newcomer Team honorees, including the program's first-ever CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year, Ashley Luke and the first Summit League Tournament Most Valuable Player Emily Clemens. Luke was also honored as the 2012-13 Summit League ‘Newcomer of the Year’ and 2014-15 ‘Player of the Year’, while Clemens earned 2016-17 ‘Player of the Year’ and set a new Summit League record with 241 assists. He has also coached two other league ‘Newcomers of the Year’ in Morgan Blumer (2016-17) and Saule Kontautaite (2011-12).
"Seth's experience as a head coach in high school and college is an essential attribute I was looking for when constructing my coaching staff. He is an Xs and Os guy, and I have been able to personally watch him out-coach other teams,” said Gravina. “He has been a part of the recruiting process from start to finish, and has strong local ties. He also shares my positive, constructive and energetic coaching style.”
During the 2010-11 season, Minter led Culver-Stockton to five conference wins after the program had won no more than two during each of the previous three seasons. The team’s offensive production increased by 9.0 points per game, and shot 11 percent better from the field. In the classroom, the team GPA increased from a 2.70 to 3.33, where coached three Academic All-America players in that span.
Prior to the collegiate ranks, Minter coached three years at Canton (Mo.) High School, posting a program-record 77-13 (.856) overall record. He was twice named District 'Coach of the Year' and was also awarded Herald Whig 'Coach of the Year' and WGEM 'Coach of the Year'. Minter guided Canton High School to the program's first trip to the state basketball tournament since 1977, finishing second in 2009 and fourth in 2010.
Minter received his bachelor's degree in Physical Education and Health from Culver-Stockton in 2006. He earned his master's degree in Educational Administration from William Woods in 2010. Minter is a Fellowship of Christian Athletes leader at Western Illinois University. He and his wife Jami reside in Macomb with their daughter Addilyn, son Jase and their dog Ozzie.
