Aaron Nester is in his fourth year as Lakeland's head women's basketball coach. He also serves as the Muskies’ associate director of athletics for internal relations.
Nester has posted a 52-29 record in his first three years coaching the Muskies, including three straight winning seasons and three top-five finishes in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. Lakeland finished 18-9 overall in 2017-18 and 14-6 in the NACC to come in fourth, and the Muskies advanced to the conference tournament semifinals.
Lakeland also had an outstanding 2016-17 season, finishing 20-8 overall and placing second in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference with a 16-4 mark. It got even better in the postseason, as the Muskies defeated top seed Concordia Wisconsin in the NACC Tournament final to secure an NCAA Division III Tournament appearance. Lakeland was defeated by Ohio Northern in the first round, but the 20-win season and NCAA trip both were the first by a Muskies women’s basketball team since 2010.
Nester’s first season with the Muskies in 2015-16 also was a success, as the team finished 14-12 overall and 13-7 in the NACC. Lakeland posted its first winning season since 2011-12 and finished fifth in the NACC, and the Muskies overcame a slow start to win 12 of their final 16 regular season games before a tough loss to Aurora in the NACC Tournament quarterfinals.
Nester has 16 years of coaching experience at the Division III level. His previous experience as a head coach included three years as the head coach at Oglethorpe (Ga.) University, and he came to Lakeland after one year as the top assistant coach at Central College in Pella, Iowa.
Nester is experienced in helping rebuild Division III women's basketball programs. His year at Central marked a return to the Midwest for the Indianapolis, Ind., native and a return to the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, as he was an assistant at Wartburg (Iowa) College from 2006-11. During his five seasons at Wartburg, the Knights improved from 7-18 in 2005-06 to 21-5 in 2010-11.
He began his coaching career at Rockford University, where he received his bachelor's and master's degrees. During his tenure at Rockford, he was part of the most successful four-year stretch in school history as the women's squad won 76 games and three conference titles and participated in three Division III tournaments.
Nester also has served as a member of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship Committee since 2011. He was the South Region chair from 2011-14 and has served as West Region chair since the spring of 2014.
Nester is married to wife Stephanie, and the couple resides in Plymouth with their son Kyle.
| Aaron Nester Lakeland Coaching Record |
|
| Year |
Overall |
Conf. |
NACC Finish |
|
| 2015-16 |
14-12 |
13-7 |
5th |
|
| 2016-17 |
20-8 |
16-4 |
2nd |
NACC Tournament Champions
NCAA Division III Tournament Qualifiers |
| 2017-18 |
18-9 |
14-6 |
4th |
|
| Career |
52-29 |
43-17 |
