Brad Soderberg
Brad Soderberg is in his 10th season with the Virginia men’s basketball program and seventh as an assistant coach. Soderberg was an assistant coach for his first six seasons at UVA before serving three seasons as director of scouting. Soderberg arrived at Virginia after serving as head coach of Lindenwood University for six seasons from 2009-15.
Soderberg also served as head coach at Saint Louis (2002-07), South Dakota State (1993-95) and Loras College (1988-93). He has posted a 338-204 career record in 19 seasons as a collegiate head coach.
He coached at Wisconsin for six years from 1995-2001 where he started as an assistant coach under Tony Bennett’s father, Dick. Soderberg helped the Badgers advance to four NCAA Tournaments, including the 2000 Final Four, and one NIT appearance. In 2000-01, Soderberg took over as the interim head coach early in the season, and along with assistant coach Tony Bennett, guided Wisconsin to an 18-11 overall record and NCAA Tournament appearance. Soderberg was the first Wisconsin coach since 1911 to win his first eight games, and the first to lead the Badgers to the NCAA Tournament in his first year. He also spent one year as an assistant coach at Saint Louis in 2001-02 under former Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar.
In six years as the head coach at NCAA Division II Lindenwood, Soderberg was the school’s all-time winningest head coach with 127 wins. He also holds the school record in winning percentage with a .690 mark. The Lions won at least 17 games in every season but one, which included the program’s transition to the NCAA level. In the program’s final year in the NAIA in 2010-11, Lindenwood won a HAAC Championship and advanced to the second round of the NAIA Division I National Tournament. Lindenwood went 28-3 during its transition season in 2012-13, and achieved school history by winning 20 games for three straight seasons. In three years in the NCAA and MIAA, Soderberg led Lindenwood to 47 victories, and the program finished fourth or better in two of the three seasons in one of the toughest NCAA Division II men’s basketball conferences.
Soderberg compiled 80 wins as head coach at Saint Louis and led the Billikens to a pair of postseason berths. In 2002-03, CollegeInsider.com named him Conference USA Coach of the Year after leading the Billikens to a C-USA semifinal tournament appearance and NIT berth. In 2003-04, the Billikens advanced to the semifinals of the C-USA Tournament and second round of the NIT. Soderberg was just the third Billiken coach to take the team to back-to-back postseason appearances in his first two years as head coach.
Soderberg was the head coach at South Dakota State (Brookings, S.D.) for two seasons and Loras College (Dubuque, Iowa) for five seasons. He was named the National Catholic Basketball Tournament Coach of the Year in 1992 after leading Loras to a runner-up finish. He also held previous coaching jobs at Loras, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Colorado State and Fort Hays State. He also spent the 2008-09 school year at Loras as the interim Director of Athletics.
Soderberg was a two-year letterwinner under Dick Bennett at UW-Stevens Point. He teamed up with former NBA star Terry Porter to lead UW-Stevens Point to the 1984 NAIA National Championship game. Soderberg earned the “Hustle Award” at that tournament and earned first-team all-conference and all-district honors that year. He shot 56 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free-throw line during his career. Soderberg graduated from UW-Stevens Point in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. He earned a master’s in physical education from Colorado State in 1986.
Soderberg was inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in August of 2021. He and his wife, Linda, have two sons, Kramer and Davis, and a daughter, Daley.