2022: Shane Paben enters his third season as the Chadron State head men's basketball coach in the 2022-23 season.
His first campaign with the Eagles was a historic one, as it took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was notable for other reasons as well. Despite a greatly abbreviated season with canceled and postponed contests nearly every week around the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conferece, Paben guided CSC to its first RMAC Tournament bid, and its highest place finish within the league standings, in nearly a decade.
Paben not only made Chadron State an immediate conference contender, but in just a short time period he has recruited 26 new student-athletes to the college, including All-RMAC honorable mention recipient Teddy Parham, Jr.
Both Parham, a junior, as well as classmate Jacob Jefferson, were also honored by the Omaha World Herald in the newspaper's annual All-Midlands awards, following the 2020-21 season.
In his 11 seasons at the helm of the Bellevue University men’s basketball program, Paben guided the Bruins to 10-consecutive trips to the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship, including a pair of trips to the Fab Four in 2010 and 2017, a quarterfinal appearance in 2009, and four trips to the Sweet 16 in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.
He amassed a career record of 275-100 (.733) and a 120-32 (.789) mark in conference play. During the 2016-17 season he took over as Bellevue University's career leader in wins with an 84-60 victory over Dickinson State on Feb. 3, 2017.
Paben guided the Bruins to their 10th-consecutive NAIA Division II National Tournament Appearance in 2017-18, when the team earned an at-large berth. BU posted a 21-12 overall mark (11-5 NSAA) and won its conference's regular season title - the ninth-straight either shared or earned outright by the Bruins.
Other career highlights:
- In 2016-17 Bellevue swept the North Star's Regular-Season and Tournament Championships. Its 11-5 league mark was good for a share of the regular-season crown and the No. 1 seed in the league tournament where the Bruins parlayed their homecourt advantage into a tournament title under Paben's tutelage. The Bruins were seeded sixth in their bracket where they upset third-seeded Briar Cliff, defeated York in the team's third meeting of the year, and won in overtime against top-seeded Bethel to reach the program's fourth Final Four.
- The Bruins claimed a share of the North Star Athletic Association title in in 2015-16, their first season in the league. Bellevue reached the NAIA Division II National Tournament for the 14th-straight year and reached the 20-win plateau for the 16th time in a row, finishing with an overall record of 20-12.
- The 2014-15 team won the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season title, finishing with a 28-6 overall mark and a No. 14 final national ranking.
- Bellevue won its fifth-straight MCAC regular season title in 2013-14 and Paben had his best overall record, at 29-6, and a final national ranking of No. 13.
- BU finished the 2012-13 season ranked No. 14 in the NAIA after a 24-11 overall record and a win over national runner-up William Penn University.
- The 2011-12 Bruins finished with a 28-6 record and a 13-1 conference mark, with a national ranking of No. 8. Paben was named the MCAC Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.
- In 2010-11, Paben led the Bruins to his highest final national ranking of No. 4 and to an overall record of 28-6 and 12-2 in conference play.
- Paben earned 2009-10 MCAC Coach of the Year honors after leading Bellevue to the MCAC regular season title with an 11-1 league mark winning the MCAC Tournament title as well.
- In 2009-10, the Bruins won 25 of their last 27 games, finishing with a 28-8 overall record. Also snapped top-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan's 39-game winning streak. The Bruins finished the season with a No. 6 final national ranking.
- Paben led the Bruins to a quarterfinal appearance at the 2009 NAIA Division II National Tournament in his inaugural campaign. He was one of just two rookie coaches in all divisions to win a game at the national tournament.
Paben came to Bellevue University from Southern Nazarene University where he was the head assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for one season. He helped lead the Crimson Storm to a 23-9 overall record in 2007-08 and a 17-5 mark in the Sooner Athletic Conference. SNU finished the season with a No. 9 final national ranking after advancing to the NAIA Division I National Tournament and posting two wins over the 2008 national champions, Oklahoma City University.
Prior to joining Southern Nazarene, Paben spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Morningside College, where he helped lead the Mustangs to a 67-31 overall record and a 37-17 mark in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Morningside captured the GPAC Tournament title in 2005-06, advancing to the Elite Eight at the national tournament, while setting a school record with 28 wins. The 67 wins over a three-year span was also a Mustang record.
Paben began his coaching career at the high school level, serving as a head coach for five years and as an assistant coach for three seasons. As an assistant, he helped lead Beatrice High School to three-straight Nebraska State Tournament semifinal appearances and one state championship in 1998. The 61-12 overall record at Beatrice set a school record for the most wins in any three-year span in school history.
After coaching at Beatrice High School, Paben moved to Afton, Iowa to become the head coach at East Union High School and was able to turn around a program that had little success in its school's history. During his first season at East Union, Paben was able to double the school's win total from the previous year after losing four starters. In the next three seasons, the school was able to win three-straight district championships and make three-straight sub-state appearances, all a first in the school's history. Paben posted a 53-37 overall record at East Union and a school record 47 wins in his final three seasons.
Paben spent one season at Akron-Westfield High School before moving to the college ranks. Akron-Westfield finished with an 11-9 overall record, the school's second winning season in 15 years.
Paben was a two-sport athlete at Nebraska Wesleyan University, competing in both men's basketball and tennis. He graduated from NWU in 1997 with a double major in history and education and a minor in political science. Paben earned a master's degree in history from the University of South Dakota in 2007.
A native of Pickrell, Neb., Paben graduated from Beatrice High School in 1992. He graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University in 1997, and he received his master’s in 2007 from the University of South Dakota.
Paben is married to Dr. Michelle Burns, and he has two sons, Drew and Will.
