John Motherwell, previously an assistant coach with the UND women's basketball team from 2010-11 and an associate head coach from 2018-23, returned to North Dakota prior to the 2023-24 season to serve as the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach.
Motherwell helped guide North Dakota to one of its best seasons in recent memory during the 2022-23 campaign, with the Fighting Hawks finishing with a 19-13 overall record and an 11-7 mark in Summit League play to finish third in the standings. Following a tough loss in the Summit League Quarterfinals, NoDak advanced to the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) to reach a postseason tournament for the first time since 2017.Â
Kacie Borowicz and Claire Orth earned All-Summit League honors, with Borowicz being selected to the league's first team while Orth was honored with a spot on the all-defensive squad.
North Dakota improved their record to 15-15 in the 2021-22 season after ending the 2020-21 season 2-19. They did so with Motherwell supporting the transition of Bernhard to permanent head coach from her interim tag.Â
The Fighting Hawks, whom closed the 2019-20 non-conference season with a 9-4 record, did so with seven true freshman on the roster, including Miss Basketball winners Megan Zander (North Dakota) and Kacie Borowicz (Minnesota). Almost 43-percent of the team's scoring came from the freshmen class. North Dakota finished with its first season with a record .500 or better since 2016-17.
Motherwell returned to UND after stints at West Florida, Detroit Mercy, Minnesota, Valparaiso and most recently as the head coach at Finlandia University. He served under former UND head coach Gene Roebuck's staff in 2010-11 alongside former head coach Travis Brewster, coincidentally mentoring both current head coach Mallory Bernhard and former assistant coach Emily Evers as players, who made up the rest of Brewster's current staff.
In 2017-18, Motherwell was Finlandia's head coach, a NCAA Division III school in Michigan. He's no stranger to the Midwest as he got his start in coaching with several high schools in Michigan. He moved to the collegiate ranks as an assistant at St. Scholastica (1998-99) and Concordia St. Paul (1999-00) before assistant coaching stops at Minnesota State Moorhead (2000-05) and Milwaukee (2005-10).
Motherwell spent two years at Minnesota (2014-16) helping the Golden Gophers win 43 games and earn an NCAA Tournament berth. In his time at Minnesota, Motherwell helped coach a pair of First Team All-Americans and six WNBA draft picks, including working directly with post players Amanda Zahui B. and Shae Kelley, both of whom were selected in the 2015 WNBA Draft – Zahui B. second overall to the Tulsa Shock. He also coached Rachel Banham who was the number four overall pick in the 2016 WNBA Draft.
During his term at Milwaukee, the Panthers won 89 games and reached at least the Horizon League Tournament Semifinals four times. In his first season, UWM went 23-10 and won the conference tournament to qualify for the NCAA Division I Tournament.
His five-year stint with MSUM saw the Dragons have a winning season every year after seven straight losing campaigns. In 2004-05, MSUM won a school record 24 games and qualified for the NCAA Division II Tournament.
A native of Michigan, Motherwell lettered in football at Eastern Michigan. He later earned a B.A. in General Studies from Michigan in 1995. Motherwell is married to wife, Sherri, and they have two kids, Annie and Joe.
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