Jul. 7—GRAND FORKS — The UND men's basketball program has promoted from within to fill an offseason hole for an assistant coach.
On Friday, the Fighting Hawks announced Estevan Sandoval has been promoted from director of basketball operations to assistant coach.
Sandoval spent the past two seasons as the Hawks' DBO.
"I'm very excited for the opportunity to keep elevating the UND brand and basketball program," Sandoval said. "My family and I are extremely grateful to coach Sather and the staff for the chance to keep building something special here in Grand Forks."
Before UND, Sandoval was part of the coaching staff at Western Texas College and Gillette College (Wyo.) for one year each.
Sandoval also spent six years with the program at New Mexico, both as a student manager and graduate assistant.
"We're excited to promote Estevan to assistant coach," UND head coach Paul Sather said. "HE has done an exceptional job as our director of basketball operations and deserves this opportunity. His commitment to UND these past two years, his previous experience, attention to detail and love of the game make him an excellent fit for this role."
Sandoval fills the void left by former UND assistant Steven Aldridge, who left this offseason and is now an assistant at UC San Diego, an NCAA Division I program in the Big West Conference. Aldridge spent two seasons at UND.
Sandoval joins UND's remaining assistants Jamie Stevens and Randall Herbst.
UND finished 13-20 last season but ended the year winning six of the team's last nine games including a first-round Summit League Tournament victory over Denver before falling to No. 1 seed Oral Roberts.
The Hawks will return four of the team's top five scorers from a year ago, including standout rising sophomores B.J. Omot and Treysen Eaglestaff.
The offseason for the UND men's basketball program has been filled with intrigue after a young core elected to remain with the program, followed by a string of promising incoming transfers.
UND's former Summit League Freshman of the Year Tyree Ihenacho, who was at James Madison, announced a return to Grand Forks, while Iowa State transfer Eli King is also joining the Hawks' youthful core.