Shannon (Bolden) Nelson takes over as Women’s Basketball Coach

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NCTC Dean of Student Development, Steve Crittenden announced today that Shannon Nelson, formally Shannon Bolden, has accepted the position of head women’s basketball coach at Northland.

Crittenden stated, “We are extremely excited to have Coach Nelson taking over our women’s basketball program this season. Her resume speaks for itself. I don’t think we could find a more qualified individual to lead our program.”

In regards to her new position, Shannon commented, "I am very excited to be the next Pioneer head women's basketball coach and am eager to begin working with the team. I know this program has a great history of success and I look forward to continuing on in that winning tradition."

Shannon Nelson brings a wealth of experience to the NCTC program. Shannon attended the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities from 2002-2006 and was a vital player on the Lady Gophers basketball team. She was a three-time recipient of the team’s Defensive Player of the Year Award and a member of the Big Ten Conference all-defensive team her junior and senior seasons. Shannon was a two-year team captain and started in 95 of 121 career games. In her career as a Gopher, Shannon helped her team to four straight NCAA tournament appearances including three Sweet Sixteens and a Final Four appearance in 2004.

During her college tenure, Shannon was one of only two student-athlete representatives on the NCAA Women’s Basketball Issues Committee and was a member of Minnesota’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council executive board. She was the 2005 recipient of the Patty Berg Legacy Scholar-Athlete Award and was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree. Shannon graduated from the University of Minnesota in May of 2006 with a bachelor's degree in kinesiology.

Shannon continued her education and in May 2009 earned her Master’s degree in Business Administration from Capella University. Since 2007 she has been employed by Northland Community & Technical College and currently works as an Academic Coordinator for the college. Shannon married Travis Nelson out of Erskine, MN, and they currently reside in Grand Forks, ND.

Northland Community & Technical College is home of Pioneer athletics. Northland fields teams in men’s and women’s basketball, women’s softball, women’s volleyball, men’s football and men’s baseball. The Pioneers are members of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

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