BROOKINGS — Bobcat boys basketball has a new head coach. Pending school board approval, assistant boys basketball coach Joe Frederiksen will take over the program from Mike McCarty, who resigned his coaching duties on April 14.

“I’m originally from Elkton,” Frederiksen said. “I grew up there and graduated there. I went to Dakota State for college. Right out of college then I went to Millbank. That’s where I first started teaching and coaching.”

He spent 12 years coaching girls basketball in Millbank — six of those years as head coach. Frederiksen also spent one year there as assistant coach for the boys team.

“That was the year the Millbank boys won the state championship, so that was a super fun year,” he said. “That was my first year of teaching, first year of being in the coaching field and we went and won a state championship.”

He learned a lot that season and said he looks forward to applying those lessons as head coach in Brookings.

“The head coach can have passion, my assistant coaches will have passion, but if our players don’t have passion — that’s where we’re going to lack that team morale,” Frederiksen said. “That’s what I want our players to have is to — no matter if we’re doing a drill in the summer, or we’re in practice in the season or we step on the floor to play our opponents — we’re always going to play with 100% passion.”

He said that attitude starts at the top and trickles down.

“My coaching philosophy is going to be built on being positive — trust and discipline,” Frederiksen said. “Just acknowledging individual and team achievements is going to be a big philosophy going forward, too — to help the team morale. Just build up the excitement for Brookings boys basketball again. I think that’s something that has maybe been not where we want it to be in the past few years — just getting that excitement out there.”

The Bobcats are coming off a 1-19 season. Frederiksen said both the players and coaches have a lot of rebuilding work to do.

“We’ll start right away that first week of June — and yes, we’re going to get right in the gym and that’s where we’re going to start getting right down to the details and the fundamentals,” he said. “I’m also looking forward to building more community pride. I think that’s one thing I’m going to strive to do myself — not just for me, but for our whole team to be more involved in the community. More community projects, being out in the public more — I think that just helps build a name for your team. … That’s another goal — how can we get more fans in the gym to watch Bobcat basketball.”

He said winning is important but his first goal is building trust and teamwork.

“Everybody puts a lot of pressure on that word ‘winning.’ I always say winning is fun — and that’s always our goal every time that we step on the floor — but my goal from day one when I accepted the job was to build a successful team,” Frederiksen said. “Positivity is going to be a big part of that, but I think we just got to go back to our basics. I’m going to be really focused on details and fundamentals. I think if we do that more, it’s going to lead us in the right direction in the future. So I’m excited to instill that this summer. I think this summer is going to look a little different with that — just getting better at those little things that hopefully contribute to more wins later in the season.”

Frederiksen is also assistant coach for Brookings varsity track as well for seventh grade football. He said he encourages his students to take a multidimensional approach to athletics.

“I love to see multi-sport athletes competing in as many sports as they possibly can,” Frederiksen said. “I just enjoy the connections I have with all the students, whether its track or football. It all carries over in my sport, too — basketball.”

He said he’s eager to get to work.

“I think there’s some great excitement around Brookings,” Frederiksen said. “I just really appreciate the opportunity. I thank the (search) committee and our athletic director — Jeff Dvorak — for this great opportunity. I look forward to the challenge, and let’s bring some excitement back to Bobcat basketball.”

McCarty coached the Bobcat boys for two seasons. He took over from David Rohrbach, who coached the 2022-23 season. Before that, Travis Engebretson served as head coach for 15 years.