Aaron Kahl was named the sixth women’s basketball coach in Northwestern College history, taking the reins from Linda Schuck, who retired after a 13-year coaching career following the 2009-10 season. Kahl, who will also take on assistant athletic director duties as part of his job, becomes a member of the Northwestern Athletics staff after a three-year head coaching stint at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, S.D.

Kahl will take over a team that finished the 2009-10 campaign with a 15-13 overall record and a 7-7 mark in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play. In his first season as head coach for the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers, the team secured a 17-15 record compared to 7-22 the year before. To Kahl’s credit, Dakota Wesleyan is a member of the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), which has boasted nine of the last 10 NAIA Division II women’s basketball champions.

Kahl’s success began in 2001, when he started his career at Gustavus Adolphus College, his alma mater. During Kahl’s tenure as the top women’s basketball assistant at Gustavus from 2001 to 2006, the Gusties went 99-34 with a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) championship and an appearance in the NCAA National Tournament in 2003. Kahl, who played two seasons of basketball at Gustavus, followed with one year as the go-to assistant for the men’s squad before heading west to lead Dakota Wesleyan. Throughout his time as a student-athlete and a graduate assistant coach, the Gusties twice went to the NCAA National Tournament.

Kahl, a native of Inwood, Iowa, earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Gustavus Adolphus in 2000. In 2006, he earned a Master of Science degree in sport administration from Minnesota State University-Mankato. Kahl will make the move to the Twin Cities with his wife, Amy and their two children, Tyler and Makenna. He will officially begin his duties at Northwestern on August 1.

For more information about athletics at Northwestern College, visit www.nwceagles.com.