Bio

Randy Stange came to Sterling for the 2022-23 season and is entering his second year at the helm of the Warrior Men’s Basketball team.

In his first season as head coach, Stange took a team that won two games the previous season and finished with a 17-17 record, a fifteen game improvement. The season culminated with an NCCAA National tournament appearance. Highlighting the season were a pair of NAIA Top 25 upsets, one of which 12^th ranked Kansas Wesleyan University home early in the KCAC Conference tournament.

Stange came to Sterling from Johnson County Community College where he served as Athletic Director since July 2017.

After a stellar high school career at Nickerson, Stange became a Blue Dragon under head coach Gary Bargen. While an HCC player, the Blue Dragons were 46-15, including an incredible 30-3 record at the Sports Arena. Stange scored 560 points in his career. In his sophomore season, Stange averaged 11.8 points and 3.6 assists per game. He also played tennis for the Blue Dragons. 

After graduating from Hutchinson Community College, Stange went on to have a stellar career a Missouri State University. He was the first player recruited by Charlie Spoonhour and was a key member of the Bear’s backcourt. Stange set the season mark for free throw accuracy his junior year with a .909 figure and averaged 10.4 points a game. That earned him a spot on the Mid-Continent Conference all-newcomer team for the 18-10 Bears. 

Once his playing days were complete, Stange jumped into the coaching profession, which eventually brought him back to Hutchinson. Hired shortly before the 1994-95 season, Stange spent three seasons on the Blue Dragons bench. He posted an 85-20 record, tied for a Jayhawk West title in 1995and his 1997 team won Region VI and qualified for the NJCAA Tournament. 

Under his watch, Stange coached Nate Erdman a 1997 2nd round NBA Draft pick by the Utah Jazz, and Demetrius Alexander, who was an honorable mention NJCAA All-American. Stange also had several Blue Dragons earn All-Jayhawk Conference honors. 

Before returning to Hutchinson, Stange served as an assistant coach at Kansas State University under Lon Kruger for the 1985-86 season. He then joined the staff at Missouri State and St. Louis University under his old college coach, Charlie Spoonhour, before the 1986-87 season. During his five seasons on the Bears staff, Missouri State won Mid-Continent titles in 1988, 1989, and 1990 with three straight trips to the NCAA Tournament. In 1990 the Bears joined the Missouri Valley Conference and made an NIT appearance in 1991 and won the MVC tournament to return to the NCAA Tournament field in 1992. 

When Spoonhour went to St. Louis University before the 1992-93 season, Stange followed and spent two seasons at SLU before returning to Hutchinson. The 1993-94 St. Louis University basketball team that Stange was part of went into the Billiken Hall of Fame in 2005. 

After coaching, Stange spent several years as Athletic Director at Hutchinson Community College where he served until 2015. During his 18-year tenure at Hutchinson, Blue Dragon athletics won 33 Jayhawk Conference championships, 28 Region VI championships in all sports, and 128 teams earned NJCAA Championship berths, with 10 finishing in the top five nationally. Additionally, the football team appeared in nine bowl games, winning eight times, and 15 players over that span went on to play in the NFL. He also played a major role in the Gowan’s Stadium renovation project.