Finkbeiner Leaving ORU To Coach At Utah State

Oral Roberts head women's basketball coach Jerry Finkbeiner is leaving the Golden Eagles program to become the head coach at Utah State.

The News On 6 confirmed his move Wednesday. Finkbeiner replaces Raegan Pebley who spent nine seasons at the helm of the Big Blue program but announced she was leaving earlier this month to be the head coach at Fresno State.

Coach Finkbeiner spent sixteen years coaching the Golden Eagles and took the program to new levels during that time.

In the 10 years prior to Finkbeiner's hire, ORU had managed just 85 total wins and finished only two seasons with a winning percentage better than .500. But in the 16 years since, the Golden Eagles have averaged better than 17 wins per season while also making the first five appearances at the NCAA Tournament in school history.

ORU hit the 20-win plateau for the third straight season in 2011-12 advancing to the WNIT for their third consecutive post season appearance.

During the 2010-11season, ORU won 23 games and captured their second straight Summit League regular season title.

Finkbeiner has led ORU to five Summit League (formerly Mid-Continent Conference) tournament titles and five 20-win seasons, including three consecutive 20-win campaigns, a first for the program in over three decades.

Finkbeiner also coached several players to individual success in 2011-12. Kevi Luper set the ORU and Summit League career scoring records on Feb 4, 2012 in a win over North Dakota State, and the Adair native went on to win her third straight Summit League Player of the Year award. Freshman Bernadett Balla also benefited from Finkbeiner's coaching, earning Summit League All-Newcomer honors.

Finkbeiner was once again named Summit League Coach of the Year at the end of the season, while Luper captured her second straight Summit League Player of the Year award.

Finkbeiner, a native of Southern California, attended Southern Nazarene in Oklahoma City from 1975-80, where he played basketball for four years.