Shane Rinner took over the men's basketball program in 2014 and brings a wealth of head coaching experience to the Sunbird staff.
Rinner was the head coach of NCAA Division II Texas A&M International from 2009-2012. In three seasons with the Dustdevils he completely revived a program that had historically achieved little to no success.
Taking over a program that had been on probation from the previous regime, Rinner led TAMIU to its first ever conference championships and NCAA tournament appearance.
He led the Dustdevils to a school-record 21 wins in both the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, and in 2010-11 guided the program to its first ever NCAA Division II tournament appearance, where the Dustdevils took No. 1 seed Central Oklahoma to overtime before falling in the first round. In addition, the Dustdevils received the Heartland Conference Scholastic Award for the 2010-11 season after compiling a 3.10 team GPA.
In his final season at TAMIU, he earned Heartland Conference Coach of the Year honors. In just three years there he left a positive impact that echoed in the community long after he left, as chronicled in this piece published in the Laredo Morning Times.
Rinner then moved on to Fresno State, where he served as the director of basketball operations for the women's program. His responsibilities included coordinating travel and practice plans along with assisting with the day-to-day operations of the program. With Rinner on staff, the team went 24-9 overall, won the Mountain West tournament and reached the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to his time at Fresno State and TAMIU, Rinner coached at the University of Alaska-Anchorage, one of the top NCAA Division II programs in the nation. At UAA, he helped lead the Seawolves to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including a run to the 2008 Final Four. In 2007-08 UAA posted the best record in school history (29-6), won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title, had a consecutive win streak of 18 games and earned its first number one NCAA Tournament seed in school history.
In 1999-00, he was the head coach for the Glostrup Giants in Copenhagen, Denmark. Before that, Rinner coached at Marshalltown (Iowa) Junior College in 1998-99 and for NCAA Division I Liberty University in Virginia from 1996-98.
As a player, Rinner played two seasons at Southwestern Junior College before going on to play two years for Biola. From 1994-96, he coached at Biola and returned there for a second stint from 2000-02.
Rinner's wife, Amanda (Seibert), is a native of Fresno and played volleyball at Fresno State.
A native of Alaska, Rinner holds a bachelor's degree in physical education from Biola. He and his wife have three children, Tagan (5), Merik (2) and Soryn (5 months), and live in Clovis.
