Mark Svagera has served as the head coach of the Briar Cliff men's basketball team since the 2017-18 season.
The 2022-23 season will be Svagera's sixth at the helm of the historic Charger program. The team went 19-12 in the 2021-22 season and 15-5 in GPAC play and coach Svagera was named the GPAC Coach of the Year. The Chargers were the GPAC Regular Season Co-Champions, earning an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament. Five Chargers earned all-GPAC honors, led by Jaden Kleinhesselink's first-team all-conference selection. Kleinhesselink was also named an Honorable Mention All-American. Kyle Boerhave and Quinn Vesey were named to the second team, while Conner Groves and Quinten Vasa were honorable mentions.
Svagera has helped the Cliff reach the national tournament seven times with three appearances as a head coach and four as an assistant as he spent six seasons as the team's top assistant.
The Chargers qualified for the NAIA DII National Tournament in Svagera's first two seasons as head coach. The team finished in the quarterfinals of the national tournament in the 17-18 and 18-19 seasons.
In 2016-17, Svagera aided in guiding the Cliff to its third-straight NAIA national tournament appearance and the Chargers also won the GPAC regular season championship for the second consecutive year. BC went 26-8 overall on the season and 14-4 in the GPAC.
In 2015-16, Svagera helped lead the Chargers to the Elite Eight and a second consecutive NAIA national tournament appearance. He also helped guide the Cliff to a school record 32-4 mark overall and an 18-2 GPAC record. The historic run last season included the school’s first ever GPAC regular season and conference tournament championships in men’s basketball.
Svagera joined Briar Cliff in the 2011-12 season after assistant coaching at Dickinson State University for two seasons. Prior to coaching at Dickinson State, he spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Hastings College.
The Ralston, Nebraska native began his coaching career at his alma mater, Dana College, serving as an assistant with the women’s basketball program during the 2006-07 season. Svagera graduated from Ralston High School in 2002 and graduated from Dana College in 2006. He was a four-year member of the Vikings’ basketball program and earned a bachelors’ degree in physical education from Dana, and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Hastings.
