Mo McHone

Morris “Mo” McHone returns for his sixth season as head coach of the Skyforce. McHone is the winningest coach in franchise history with a regular season record of 180-124 (.592). His teams made the postseason five times and he led the organization to a CBA championship in 1996.

McHone replaced Tony Fritz as head coach last season after a 2-18 start and helped the team snap a franchise-record 13-game losing streak in his return to the sidelines. He held the position of director of basketball development for the Austin Toros for two seasons (2007-09) following one season as head coach of the Skyforce. Austin reached the postseason in each of his two seasons in the front office and advanced to the 2008 NBA D-League Finals. Sioux Falls posted a record of 30-20 (.600) in 2006-07 and advanced to the league semifinals before losing to eventual champion Dakota.

McHone’s first stint with the Skyforce (1995-99) was highlighted by three appearances in the CBA Finals and a CBA championship. He also coached one of the best teams in franchise history as the 1996-97 squad finished the regular season with a record of 47-9, the fifth-best mark in league history.

Prior to coaching in Sioux Falls, McHone was head coach for the Birmingham Bandits (1991-92), Fort Wayne Fury (1992-93) and Yakima Sun Kings (1993-95). He has an all-time regular season record of 229-168 (.577) in eight CBA seasons and a postseason record of 40-29 (.580). He won back-to-back CBA championships (’95, ’96) and was a two-time winner (’95, ’97) of the CBA’s Coach of the Year award.

McHone worked in the NBA early in his coaching career as he was an assistant coach in San Antonio from 1980-83 and served as head coach of the Spurs for 31 games during the 1983-84 season. He was also an assistant coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers (1979-80, 1985-86), Detroit Pistons (1999-01) and Los Angeles Clippers (2001-03).

He coached three different USA Basketball teams; the 1997 Tournament of Americas Team, 1999 USA Men’s Pan American Games Team and 2005 USA Men’s World Championship Qualifying Team. His teams won a gold medal ('97), silver medal ('99) and the 2005 squad finished in fourth place and qualified the United States for the 2006 World Championship.

A 1965 graduate of Florida State University, McHone also has 14 years of experience as a college assistant, including stints at Florida State (1970-78), Georgia (1978-79) and Bradley (1986-91).

McHone has a son, Kimble, and a daughter, Marcie. He and his wife, Valarie, were married in August of 2000.

Sean Rooks

Sean Rooks will serve as an assistant coach for the remainder of the 2011-12 season. The 13-year NBA veteran has two seasons of coaching experience in the NBA Development League.

Rooks previously served as an assistant coach for the New Mexico Thunderbirds (2010-11) and Bakersfield Jam (2007-08). He briefly served as interim head coach of the Jam following the resignation of head coach Jim Harrick. He also worked in other capacities for the Jam as he was a television analyst at home games for two seasons and held the role of team mentor during the 2006-07 season.

Rooks holds NBA career averages of 6.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in 749 games with the Dallas Mavericks (190), Minnesota Timberwolves (129), Atlanta Hawks (16), Los Angeles Lakers (146), Los Angeles Clippers (213), New Orleans Hornets (35) and Orlando Magic (20). He averaged career highs in points (13.5) and rebounds (7.4) as a rookie with the Mavericks in 1992-93. He was originally selected by Dallas in the second round (30th overall) of the 1992 NBA Draft following a successful collegiate career at the University of Arizona.

Mitch Begeman

Mitch Begeman will serve as a part-time assistant coach this season following a one-year stint as graduate assistant for the men’s basketball team at the University of South Dakota. It marks his second season as a member of the Skyforce coaching staff after filling the role of basketball operations intern in 2009-10.

Begeman was a member of the Coyote basketball team for four years (2005-09) and finished with career averages of 5.6 points and 1.8 rebounds in 109 games. He enjoyed a successful career at O’Gorman High School as he was named Class AA All-State First Team and Argus Leader All-State First Team as both a junior and senior. He helped lead O’Gorman to second-place finishes in the state tournaments in 2003 and 2004 and is the all-time leading scorer in school history with 1,337 points.

The Sioux Falls, S.D. native graduated with a degree in Secondary Education in May of 2010 and is employed as an exercise specialist at Family Wellness and player development instructor for Sanford POWER Basketball Academy.

Dustin Schramm

Dustin Schramm, entering his 11th season with the organization, serves as the team’s athletic trainer. Along with handling all of the obvious duties of an athletic trainer, he also takes on extra duties that are typical for the trainer to handle in a minor league setting such as coordinating team travel and keeping designated game statistics.

Schramm is a full-time employee of Sanford Orthopedics and Sports Medicine and covers area high schools in the spring and fall. During the summer he works with high school athletes from the surrounding area that are part of the Sanford POWER program, a program designed to provide athletes ages 11-adult with the unique training tools, environment and motivation needed to obtain their maximum athletic performance and to achieve their desired fitness goals.

A native of Winner, S.D., Schramm graduated from Dakota Wesleyan in 1998 with a degree in Sports Medicine. While attending DWU he served as a student athletic trainer for various athletic programs.

Dustin and his wife, Lisa, reside in Sioux Falls with their twin boys, Kemmer and Dagen, daughter, Tierney and son, Bronson. He also has a son, Chase, who lives in North Carolina.