Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Phone:
- 320-308-3299
Connor O’Brien enters his fourth season as the lead assistant of St. Cloud State Men’s Basketball in 2025-26. In addition to serving as the top assistant on Quincy Henderson’s coaching staff, O’Brien works closely with the Huskies’ frontcourt in all areas of player development. Through nine campaigns as an assistant coach at the collegiate level, O’Brien’s teams have earned a Sweet 16 appearance, four NCAA Tournament appearances and six Conference Championships.
O’Brien has recruited and coached three Academic All-Americans, six All-Region selections, one Conference Player of the Year, 24 All-Conference honorees and four Conference All-Defensive Team members over his collegiate coaching career.
O’Brien was hired as St. Cloud State’s assistant coach on June 22, 2022.
Before his appointment at St. Cloud State, O’Brien spent seven seasons as the top assistant at NCAA DIII Saint John’s under head coach Pat McKenzie, helping guide the Johnnies to three MIAC Regular Season Championships, three MIAC Tournament Championships, four NCAA Tournament appearances and one NCAA Sweet 16 berth. O’Brien helped oversee four 20-win seasons in Collegeville as SJU went 137-37 (.787) with a 92-25 (.786) mark in the MIAC. His Johnnies were no stranger to postseason success, going 10-3 at the conference tournament in his time on staff. O'Brien was named as one of Under Armour's 30 Under 30 award winners during his tenure at Saint John's.
Serving a variety of roles as the lead assistant at Saint John’s, O’Brien recruited and coached six All-Region selections, one Conference Player of the Year, 22 All-Conference honorees and four Conference All-Defensive Team members throughout his time in Collegeville. Off the court, Johnnie student-athletes earned three Academic All-American honors and 21 MIAC All-Academic selections.
Saint John’s offense flourished during O’Brien’s time on staff, posting a 120.4 offensive rating while shooting 51.0% from the floor and 40.2% from three. The Johnnies held a +6.2 rebounding margin over the seven-year stretch and shot better than 55% inside the arc in six of O’Brien’s seven seasons. Two forwards – Tyler Weiss and Zach Hanson – earned All-Region honors under his guidance while Jubie Alade was named MIAC Player of the Year in 2020.
O’Brien was a standout four-year starter at Minnesota State-Mankato, graduating No. 22 on the Mavericks’ career scoring list with 1,216 points and second all-time in blocks with 157. The formidable rim protector led MSU to three NSIC Championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances while averaging 10 points, seven rebounds and just over a block per game on 51% shooting. O’Brien started 32 games as a redshirt freshman on the Mavericks’ 2010-11 NCAA Final Four team and guided the program to a record 30 wins his senior year.
A native of New Prague, Minnesota, O’Brien was a 2009 graduate of New Prague High School.
O’Brien earned his undergraduate degree from Minnesota State-Mankato in 2014 and added a master’s degree in 2015.
Connor and his wife Jenna have one daughter, Kinsley, and a son, William.
