Orange City, Iowa – Northwestern College has announced that men’s basketball head coach Kris Korver ’92 will be passing leadership of the program to Colton Kooima ’18 and Ben Miller ’13. Kooima will serve as the school’s ninth head coach, while Miller will be elevated to associate head coach.
“It is a tremendous honor to announce the transition of leadership within our historic men’s basketball program,” said Vice President for Athletics Tony Hoops. “Coach Korver’s strong mentorship has prepared Colton and Ben to successfully lead Red Raider Basketball into a new era while holding strong to our mission of Honoring Christ Through Excellence in Athletics.”
A press conference to celebrate the history of Northwestern men’s basketball and recognize the program’s new leadership will be held in the Vogel Community Room on Monday, March 31 at 4:00 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend. Monday’s event will also be available to watch on Northwestern’s GPAC Network channel.
KRIS KORVER
After 25 seasons at the helm, Korver accumulated a record of 574-225, closing his time on the Bultman Center sidelines with the 26th-most wins among current and former NAIA coaches, and fourth among active NAIA coaches. Since starting his collegiate coaching career in 2000, Korver won two NAIA Division II national titles (’01, ’03), made 19 trips to the NAIA tournament, finished atop the GPAC standings nine times, and won the GPAC tournament title six times.
“I love Northwestern, and I love Northwestern basketball,” Korver exclaimed. “Serving as Northwestern’s basketball coach has been a God-given calling, and I have been given the opportunity to live this God-given dream for the last 25 years. What a blessing!”
Under Korver’s direction, 48 Raiders received All-American accolades. He coached one NAIA Player of the Year (Brandon Woudstra, ’03), seven GPAC Players of the Year, five GPAC Freshmen of the Year, and two GPAC Defensive Players of the Year.
Colton Kooima will be the ninth men’s basketball head coach at Northwestern College. Kooima’s six-year journey as an assistant coach brings him back to Northwestern, preparing him to lead a program that invested in his own athletic career.
He first joined the Red Raider coaching staff in July 2021, coming back to Orange City after a two-year stint as an assistant coach at fellow NAIA member Vanguard University (Calif.) for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. Last season, Kooima served as the lead assistant coach at Augustana University (S.D.).
“It is an absolute honor to be the next head men’s basketball coach at Northwestern College,” Kooima stated. “We have an exciting opportunity to build upon the history and tradition of Northwestern basketball. More importantly, we have a calling to serve the young men in our program and honor Christ in our pursuit of excellence.”
A two-time NAIA First Team All-American his junior and senior seasons, Kooima has his named etched in the Northwestern men’s basketball record books. While in a Red Raider uniform, he scored 2,441 points which is third in program history behind Brandon Woudstra and Alex Van Kalsbeek.
He is third in program history with 309 career three-pointers and 13th in assists with 368 in his career. During his career, he was a four-time First Team All-Conference performer, also receiving the GPAC Player of the Year award for the 2017-18 season and GPAC Freshman of the Year accolades in 2014-15. Kooima was inducted into the Northwestern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023.
KIWA Staff Photo. Information courtesy of the Northwestern College Sports Information Department.
