Beutel enjoying the ride 300 wins later at SUNY Niagara

Starpoint graduate now in 13th season with Thunderwolves

Nate Beutel wasn’t anticipating becoming a women’s college basketball coach when he was an undergraduate student nearly two decades ago. But, as he heard cheers from the SUNY Niagara locker room echo off the hallway walls, Beutel knew he was having a blast.  

The excitement awaiting Beutel from his 11 players wasn’t just to celebrate the Thunderwolves’ 13-0 start. It was also to mark his latest milestone with SUNY Niagara on a resume that includes winning the NJCAA Region III Division II title in each of the last six seasons.

Drenched by water as he walked through the doorway, Beutel looked around the locker room and absorbed the moment in his 13th season with the team. Beutel recorded his 300th career win with SUNY Niagara after its 75-52 victory against Raritan Valley in the Thunderwolves’ Holiday Classic Sunday in Sanborn.

Players heard Beutel was reaching the milestone one week before facing the Golden Lions, with the latest win less than two years after he posted No. 250 against Erie Community College. But while it was a personal accolade, Beutel kept thinking about the big picture of the program, leading the Thunderwolves to at least 25 wins eight times.

“I kind of look back and some of those players, some of those memories and some of those times in the last 13 years kind of flash before your eyes when you do reach some of these milestones,” Beutel said. “I end up smiling a lot about a lot of those memories. Been a lot of great times here and I think it’s just kind of cool to be a kid from Sanborn that’s been able to achieve success right here in his hometown.” 

Coaching the Thunderwolves wasn’t Beutel’s first stop on the sidelines. After stints at Medaille College and Wilson High School, Beutel spent two seasons coaching varsity boys basketball at Grand Island and finished with a 7-32 record from 2010 to 2012.

Beutel was familiar with the Thunderwolves and the school as his friends from his alma mater, Starpoint, played sports there. Beutel accepted the offer from former SUNY Niagara athletic director and current softball coach Bob McKeown ahead of the 2012-13 season. 

Before Beutel started, the Thunderwolves struggled to find success. From 2001 to 2012, SUNY Niagara finished with a 28-174 record, with a seven-win campaign in 2010-11. 

In his first season, Beutel and the Thunderwolves finished with a 13-15 record and advanced to the first of 12 consecutive NJCAA Region III Division II semifinal trips. Since then, SUNY Niagara has recorded fewer than 10 losses all but twice, including a 30-1 finish and NJCAA Division II national tournament berth five years ago. 

As an assistant coach with Starpoint football and nine years leading SUNY Niagara softball, Beutel has guided hundreds of players. But compared to his time coaching boys and men’s basketball, Beutel has the strongest connection coaching the SUNY Niagara’s women’s team, bringing in players from across the state and the country.

“Just the way that sometimes maybe they take coaching,” Beutel said. “They’re receptive. They’re kind of sponges. Their appreciation for your investment in them as not only a player, but as a whole person, I appreciate that. And I think that’s a big reason why we’ve been successful.” 

But along with the on-court success, Beutel has helped develop players who have continued to play at four-year programs, including five at NCAA Division I, and eight NJCAA Division II All-Americans. The quintet to compete at Division I are Cierra Harrison (Detroit), Aubrey Halloran (Niagara), Kenetria Redfern (Maryland-Eastern Shore), Amherst resident Nickelle O’Neil (St. Peter’s/Niagara) and Newfane resident Paige Emborsky (Abilene Christian). 

And it was inside the locker room, hearing Beutel’s motivational speeches, before games that Emborsky took away from playing for the Thunderwolves. Now starting her own coaching career at Division III Keuka College this season, Emborsky remembered Beutel motivating the Thunderwolves to have an underdog mentality in every game, including in an eventual 112-77 win against fellow NJCAA Division II top-10 team CCBC Essex during the Thunderwolves Classic three years ago.

“He would treat those teams the same,” Emborsky said. “He would tell us how good they are and how we need to execute things perfectly and to take care of the basketball and to do the little things right. … You just treated every team with respect that we played and I think that carried over into the locker room and just how the girls approached the game and that kind of led to just domination game after game.” 

But when games aren’t played, the work doesn’t end for Beutel. Also the school’s Sports Information Director and Athletic Scheduling Coordinator, Beutel makes himself available during the offseason, opening the gym for workouts.

And if a player is in a shooting slump, Beutel is there for encouragement to move onto to the next play. Overall, from those who play for him, Beutel’s intensity is unmatched, with a desire to do well. 

“He just is always looking to be the best, beat the best and he’s never satisfied and that’s what makes him the coach that he is,” SUNY Niagara sophomore and Lancaster resident Rachel Kamrowski said. “... He’s always pushing his players to be the best they can be. So I feel like we have a group who wants to get better every day, so that’s a good match for his coaching style.” 

Ranked No. 14 in the final NJCAA Division II poll of the calendar year, SUNY Niagara continues its season at Henry Ford at 5:30 p.m. Friday in Michigan.