BURNSVILLE, Minn. – Three members of the NSIC South Division champion University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team have been named to the All-NSIC squad and 12^th-year Head Coach Chris Johnson has been named NSIC Coach of the Year, according to an announcement today by the league office.

USF sophomore guard Chase Grinde was named to the first team and forward Teathloach Pal was a second team selection while freshman guard Jack Thompson was picked to the honorable mention team. 

Johnson named NSIC Coach of the Year

In receiving NSIC Coach of the Year honors in a vote of his peers, Johnson, a Bloomington, Minn., native, earned his third coaching honor of his career but the first in the NSIC. Johnson has directed a team, which was picked to finish 10^th in the league in the preseason polls, to the NSIC South title while setting a program DII mark with 22 wins in 29 contests. 

With 217 career wins at USF, he is the program's all-time leader in career victories. In his career, he has 233 wins and has led USF to 20 wins or more in two of the past three seasons. At USF, he has led the program to six 20-win seasons.

Johnson, whose team will face Minnesota State in the NSIC Sanford Health Tournament quarterfinals at 5:30 pm Saturday, Feb. 29, has coached eight All-NSIC performers and six times has recorded 15 or more wins in the NSIC. In home games, he has 125 wins and 90 overall NSIC victories. Also, Johnson has won 51-of-56 nonconference matchups at USF.

Johnson was also the Hauff-MidAmerica/GPAC Coach of the Year in 2010-11 and also the 2004-05 Heart of America Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. A former two-year starter at Central College, he has a Bachelor's degree from Central College and a Master's degree in sports administration from Minnesota State in 2005. He and his wife, Amy, have four children (Bailey, TJ, Zeke and Lucy).

Grinde, Pal and Thompson lead USF to 22 wins

Named to the All-NSIC first team for the first time was Grinde, who leads USF with 12.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Grinde, a 6-4 guard from Spring Grove, Minn., and the son of Wade and Sarah Grinde, has 20 games (27 in his career) with double-digit points, which includes each of the last 14 games. An Academic All-NSIC honoree in 2018-19, he has scored 20 points or more four times, including three times this season.

An exercise science major, Grinde has made 50.4 percent from the field on 137-of-202 shooting and a sizzling 48.4 percent from three-point range with 31-of-64 conversions. He averaging a team-high 13.7 points in conference games and hit a sizzling 25-of-47 for 53.2 percent from three-point range.

Junior forward Teathloach Pal,

a 6-9 standout from Fridley, Minn., and son of Sarah Jiech, is averaging 10.9 points and 9.2 rebounds for the Cougars. In earning his first-ever All-NSIC honor, Pal has been a force inside and has made 138-of-241 field goals for 57.3 percent. He has 267 rebounds with 100 on the offensive glass.

Pal ranks fifth in the NSIC in rebounding and second in offensive boards. In his career, he has 14 career double-doubles with eight this season. Pal, who is a business major, has 17 double-digit scoring games, including 11 in the past 14 games.  Also he has 18 career games with double-digit rebounds and 23 with double-digit points. 
 

Thompson, a standout freshman guard from Eagan, Minn., is averaging 10.6 points per game and has a career-high 23 vs. Minnesota Crookston on Feb. 1, 2020. A business major and son of Craig and Lisa Thompson, he earned his first selection to the all-conference team. This season he has 15 games with double-digit points with six of 20 points or more.   

Thompson has hit 42-of-107 three-pointers for 39.3 percent from three and has 70 assists or 2.3 per game. He ranks second in the league with 1.7 steals (49) per game.