Mark Graupe joined the Big Green as an assistant coach for the 2009-10 staff before earning a mid-season promotion to interim head coach on Jan. 14. Graupe was on the staff at Colorado State last year and has more than 20 years of coaching experience.

“I'd like to thank the administration for giving me this opportunity,” Graupe stated. “In the next two months, I'm simply going to work very hard and, with the help of the coaching staff and administration, do my best to guide these young men through the rigors of the Ivy season.”

Graupe also spent two seasons coaching boys basketball at Williston High School, four at Devils Lake High School and six at Unity High School, all in North Dakota. During three of his six years at Unity, he also coached the girls team.

A native of Crosby, N.D., Graupe earned his undergraduate degree in physical education and mathematics from the University of North Dakota in 1987, then earned his master’s in kinesiology from UND in 2004. After his final season at Lake Region, he was presented by his alma mater with the Thomas J. Clifford Award for excellence in the coaching profession.