McKeever Takes Bemidji State Job
Former South Dakota star begins tenure as head coach of a team that has placed in the conference bottom three for four straight years.
By Amit Chukwu ·
Madison McKeever has spent her athletic career responding to skepticism with performance. Now, at age 28, she faces her largest challenge yet as the new head coach of the Bemidji State women's basketball team.
The Beavers entered the 2025-26 season under new leadership after Chelsea Stoltenberg stepped down. McKeever was formally hired as the program’s 11th head coach on May 20. She takes over a squad that has finished in the bottom three of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in each of the last four seasons.
McKeever’s path to the job mirrors her playing style. A native of Erskine, Minnesota, she had to petition a school board in seventh grade to play varsity basketball at Win-E-Mac. That early advocacy set a pattern for her high school and college careers. She led Win-E-Mac to a Class A state title in 2014, scoring 27 points in the final against top-seeded Minneota. She became the first Division I student-athlete in school history before transferring to South Dakota.
At South Dakota, McKeever became the Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year as a freshman. She started 100 of her final 133 games in college, averaging 8.2 points per game. The Coyotes reached the NCAA Tournament in her senior year after going undefeated in conference play. McKeever cited that period as the moment coaches began to view her as a professional talent rather than a small-town anomaly.
The transition to coaching began at Concordia-St. Paul, where she served as an assistant and later top assistant. She then moved to St. Thomas, starting as a director of operations and rising to top assistant by the 2025-26 season. These roles allowed her to handle film breakdowns, recruiting, and budget management, skills she says will be essential in her new position.
McKeever began her work immediately after being hired. She contacted every player from the previous 9-17 season to explain her vision and assess their interest. The result was a roster rebuild. Eight players from last year returned, while three upperclassmen joined via the transfer portal: guards Abby Richter and Brya Brooklyn, and forward Katrina Stack.
The Bemidji State administration has supported her appointment. The university has hired a group of young coaches in recent years, including volleyball coach Hahni Johnson and golf coaches Ben Corbid and Erica Gartner. McKeever noted that the staff understands she is learning the head coaching role. Her team opens its season with a non-conference road game against St. Cloud State on Nov. 17.
