Kevin Buisman, first introduced as MSU’s Director of Athletics on July 26, 2002, begins his seventeenth year with Minnesota State Athletics. Behind a deft combination of sound decision-making on key internal and external strategies, Buisman has left himself well-positioned to make what will likely become an indelible and lasting impact on Maverick athletics over the long term.
During his tenure, Maverick teams have earned a total of 89 NCAA Division II postseason appearances, including: football (2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017); men’s basketball (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018); women’s basketball (2008, 2009, 2012, 2013); baseball (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017); softball (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018); volleyball (2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011); women’s soccer (2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017); women’s bowling (2007, 2008); men’s golf (2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018); women’s golf (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018); men’s tennis (2009); women’s tennis (2009) and five NCAA Division I postseason opportunities in men’s ice hockey (2003, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018).
Behind this high level of achievement and his ongoing commitment to administrative excellence within a campus environment, Buisman was cited by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) as one of the 2013-14 Under Amour Athletic Directors of the Year. Building on that, Buisman saw his second team national champion crowned in 2017 when the softball program cruised along to a school record-setting 64-7 mark. More recently, Minnesota State completed the 2017-18 campaign ranking eleventh in the final Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings, which recognize the top athletic programs in the country. A model of consistency, the program has achieved a Top 10 finish ten times in the last 14 years. The program’s successes have also helped to attract major donor investment and in December 2016, Buisman was able to help secure the largest ever departmental gift to the University in the form of a $5 million scholarship endowment from Sanford Health to benefit student-athletes seeking a career in health services.
Along the way, Buisman has been the architect of this success by defining the important leadership roles across nearly every sport, appointing or hiring current MSU coaches John Harrington (women’s hockey), Lori Wollmuth (volleyball), Mike Turgeon (men’s track and field), Mike Hastings (men’s hockey), Emilee Thiesse (women’s basketball), Brian Bahl (soccer), Todd Hoffner (football), Nathan Owens (swimming and diving), Melissa Mashburn (women’s tennis), Bryant Black (men’s and women’s golf), Matt Magers (baseball), and Jen Blue (cross country), while extending the contracts of Maverick mainstays, including Matt Margenthaler (men’s basketball), Jim Makovsky (wrestling), and Lori Meyer (softball). Four of this current stable have achieved National Coach of the Year recognition in their respective sports, including Meyer, Hastings, Hoffner, and Magers.
Branded by the tag line “Building Champions”, fans of the program have come to expect outstanding performances from student-athletes, not only in competition, but also in the classroom and throughout the community. As evidence of this, MSU student-athletes provide more than 4,000 hours of community service annually, with over 34% of them earning recognition on the Dean’s List while compiling a very impressive 3.26 all student-athlete cumulative GPA in a most recent record-setting semester. In fact, over the last decade, the Mavericks rank in the Top 10 nationally for NCAA Division II in terms of the number of Academic All-Americans that have been recognized.
With an eye for improving the overall welfare of MSU’s nearly 550 student-athletes, Buisman reorganized and revitalized the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, developed and created proposals that led to the successful implementation of university-wide policies for priority registration and missed classes, while also overseeing the department’s Drug & Alcohol Education and Testing program. After collaborating with the Department of Campus Recreation to help engineer implementation of a $6.2 million outdoor facilities plan in 2009-10, Buisman helped to spearhead donor, alumni, and community support that resulted in just over $14.5 million in state bonding bill funding, allowing for a complete renovation and buildout of new space in the downtown Verizon Wireless Center, which became the new home of Maverick men’s and women’s hockey beginning Fall 2015.
Buisman’s leadership of the department has resulted in several other significant accomplishments. Public awareness and interest for the program has continued to grow behind his creation of a new athletic mascot logo. Under his watch the MSU football, men’s basketball and men’s hockey teams have exhibited spikes in home attendance averages with fans enjoying a family-friendly environment that was recognized with the 2011 NCAA Division II’s national “Award of Excellence for Game Environment” for its highly acclaimed “Don’t Cross the Line” campaign.
The former University of Northern Iowa football player (BA management and finance ‘87; MBA ‘89) has been instrumental in advancing gender equity by establishing a revised plan to achieve proportionality in scholarship funding and participation which led to the department being cited by the NCAA as a 2007-08 Diversity in Athletics Award winner in the category of Gender Equity Compliance. In concert with University administration, Buisman was also able to successfully implement a tuition waiver program that has been used effectively to increase the recruitment of diverse student populations to the program.
Under his guidance, MSU successfully hosted the 2004 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships, along with the 2008 and 2012 NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Track & Field Championships and more recently hosted the 2015 NCAA Division II wrestling super regional championships. Buisman also serves as a representative on various committees that in the past have helped to facilitate hosting the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Timberwolves team training camps on the MSU campus. These outside activities have had a significant economic impact on the local community and undoubtedly played a role in the department’s recognition as the 2004 Greater Mankato Tourism Advocate of the Year.
Buisman chaired the NCAA Division II National Football Committee in 2008 and 2009, after having previously served on the NCAA Division II Regional Men’s Basketball Committee. He was also selected to participate in the 2005 U.S. Army Leadership Development and Assessment Course in Fort Lewis, Wash. and in 2006 completed the nationally-recognized Chair Academy’s two-year intensive training program, which is designed to promote excellence in administrative leadership amongst higher education professionals. Active in the community, Buisman currently sits on boards for Mankato United Soccer, Mankato Sports Commission, Visit Mankato, and the Greater Mankato Executive Committee and also serves on the Technical Advisory Committee for a Regional Facilities Development Task Force.
Prior to his appointment at MSU, Buisman, 54, had served as the Associate Director of Athletics for Sports Management at Northern Iowa beginning in 1998 and taught courses as an adjunct instructor in UNI’s Department of Finance. A native of Marion, Iowa, Buisman was the Athletic Development Coordinator for UNI’s Human Performance Center for two years and spent two years (1996-98) as the UNI-Dome Operations Manager, after working a seven-year stint (1989-96) as the Assistant UNI-Dome Manager.
In November 2014, Buisman was diagnosed with head and neck cancer. A successful surgery in January 2015 was followed by treatment as part of a clinical trial that has produced no evidence of the disease some three years later. The successful outcome has inspired Buisman to give back in the fight against the disease and he was recognized as the Honorary Survivor at the 2015 Blue Earth County Relay for Life and his story was featured as part of his keynote address at the Spring 2018 Mankato Clinic Men’s Health Forum, before serving as an ambassador in the community’s inaugural “Power in Purple” campaign this past summer. Buisman is also on the JZ Cancer Fund Board of Advisors and the South Central Minnesota Cancer Leadership Team.
His wife, Heather, is a Minnesota State graduate and is employed locally by The Design Element, where she has been recognized nationally as an award-winning Interior Designer. The couple resides in Mankato and have two children— Alyssa (25) who is completing her Bachelor’s Degree at Minnesota State and McKenna (18) who plays soccer at the University of Minnesota and is enrolled in the Carlson School of Management.