Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Minneapolis North hire new boys basketball coaches

Benilde-St. Margaret’s will transition from having a high-profile head coach to a member of its athletic administrative staff with the hiring of Jacob Sand as the new boys basketball coach.

Sand replaces former Gophers standout Damian Johnson, who was not brought back to lead the program after completing his sixth season at BSM.

Elsewhere, Jerome Williams was hired as the Minneapolis North boys basketball coach. Williams replaces Ahmil Jihad, who coached the program the past two seasons.

Before spending this year as the Red Knights’ assistant athletic director, Sand was the St. Thomas Academy basketball coach from 2023 to 2025.

The Red Knights finished 13-15 this past season under Johnson, including a 5-8 conference record. In six seasons, Johnson compiled a coaching record of 108-52, which included three consecutive Metro West Conference titles from 2023 to 2025.

“I understand there’s going to be a perception,” Sand said, referring to the school’s decision on Johnson. “I stepped away from coaching, and an opportunity came, and I went through the interview process. They made a decision to hire me, and I was very thankful for it.”

Sand reports to BSM athletic director Matt Pryor, who worked with him at St. Thomas Academy. Before taking over as STA’s head coach in 2023, Sand worked as an assistant to Khalid El-Amin with the Cadets for two seasons, including a Metro East Conference title in 2022-23.

Sand, who went 37-21 in two seasons at STA, said he missed coaching and the opportunity to help develop young players.

“To be honest, we didn’t talk about wins and losses in the interview,” Sand said. “I just talked about upholding a certain standard that I wanted for all of our student-athletes in the classroom and in the hallways, around our building, outside our building and on the court. That’s the vision I sold them on.”