Stu Starner

Stuart John Starner (April 8, 1943 – July 17, 2024) was an American college basketball coach. He was an NCAA Division I head men's coach for eleven seasons for Montana State University and the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA).

Career
Starner, a native of Hoffman, Minnesota, played basketball and football at the University of Minnesota Morris, graduating in 1965. After a successful high school coaching career in Wabasso and Richfield, Minnesota, Starner moved to the college ranks in 1978 as a graduate assistant at Minnesota. After assistant roles at Montana State and a second stint at Minnesota, Starner was hired as the head coach for Montana State in Bozeman, Montana in 1983. In 1986, Starner's Bobcats won the 1986 Big Sky Conference tournament as the 6 seed, gaining the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the only team in the field with a losing overall record. The following season, the Bobcats won the Big Sky Conference regular season title behind Conference Player of the Year Tom Domako.

In 1990, Starner took the unusual step of requesting a one-year sabbatical from his head coaching position at Montana State. His request was granted and assistant Mick Durham was named interim head coach. However, Starner surprised the school two months later by accepting the head coaching position at UTSA. Starner spent five seasons coaching the Roadrunners, Starner resigned in 1995 with an 84–58 record at the school. His teams won conference regular season championships in 1991 and 1992.

Death
Starner died in Bozeman, Montana on July 17, 2024, at the age of 81.