When Brett Cloepfil played high school basketball at Greeley West, he was a scorer and a good all-around player, a former high school coach remembered.
“Undersized and over-hearted,” said Bill Whitehead, a UNC player in the early 1980s and a member of the Greeley West staff when Cloepfil played in the program.
In college at CSU Pueblo, Cloepfil developed into one of the top players for the Division II ThunderWolves. He led the team in scoring in his final year and was an all-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference selection.
Now in his seventh year as an assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado, Cloepfil considers himself a “role player” for the Division I Bears. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
“The beauty of coaching and basketball I’ve always thought is exactly that, being part of a team,” he said. “As a staff, we’re a team and we’ve been lucky to really get comfortable as teammates over the years. I think our players have really benefited just from the consistency that we’ve had, and obviously they’ve done a great job being coachable.”
Northern Colorado Bears men’s basketball assistant coach and director of performance Brett Cloepfil claps and yells to his players during a practice at Bank of Colorado Arena on the campus of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (Brice Tucker/Staff Photographer)
For Cloepfil, basketball is primarily about being part of a team. His love for the game on the court and between the lines is clear. He walked on to the team at CSU Pueblo, and he joined UNC as a volunteer assistant while working a full-time job. Scoring, defense and winning games are great. Relationships and life lessons last longer.
“You’re never going to win enough games to be fulfilled,” he said. “It’s the connections and getting through the ups and downs and finding a way to improve and to respond to different circumstances. I think that’s always attracted me to the game.”
On a six-man coaching staff, Cloepfil is likely modest about his contribution as a role player. Working with head coach Steve Smiley and assistants Houston Reed, Dorian Green, Colin Gause and Dondrale Campbell, the Bears’ coaches have multiple responsibilities — including coaching, scouting and recruiting.
The assistants have other titles too. Cloepfil is the director of performance, which means he works with athletic department director of sports performance Payne Kessler and athletic trainer Maddie Ford to help the players from the training room and weight room to the court, Cloepfil said.
Smiley said Cloepfil is effective as a coach for three reasons: he’s a genuine person, he’s knowledgeable and he has the right temperament.
“Doesn’t get too high or too low,” Smiley said. “Calming influence on the team.”
Northern Colorado Bears men’s basketball assistant coach and director of performance Brett Cloepfil coaches his players through a drill during a practice at Bank of Colorado Arena on the campus of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (Brice Tucker/Staff Photographer)
Cloepfil, 41, came to UNC as a volunteer coach in 2019. His responsibilities then focused on scouting and video projects under head coach Jeff Linder while working at the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Linder left UNC for Wyoming in March 2020. Smiley, then the UNC associate head coach, was hired to replace Linder. Smiley brought Cloepfil and Green to join the new staff.
Cloepfil was the head coach at Greeley West from 2014-19. He left for the volunteer role at UNC because he was looking for a change. Cloepfil realized how much he enjoyed coaching college basketball. He left CDOT to join UNC and Smiley full time.
“I knew pretty quickly that it was something I was going to chase,” Cloepfil said. “Just having that rapport and that relationship and kind of really getting to know him on a professional and personal level, it was obviously something that was very attractive to me.”
A lot in college basketball happens off the court and behind the scenes. Assistant coaches have a big role in the unseen work, such as performance and finding the balance in the weight room. Cloepfil said the best part of the job is seeing the growth and development in the players.
Northern Colorado Bears men’s basketball assistant coach and director of performance Brett Cloepfil claps as he watches a drill during a practice at Bank of Colorado Arena on the campus of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (Brice Tucker/Staff Photographer)
Even in the current college sports landscape, where money is available for athletes and they are free agents from year to year with the transfer portal, Cloepfil said a big part of a coach’s purpose remains unchanged.
He said he would potentially want to be a college head coach. Division I is challenging and changing. He’s considered running a lower-level program, but his current job is fulfilling, challenging and enjoyable.
“It’s still about the players, giving them the best experience possible and pushing them to be their best,” he said. “Can they have the best chance to be successful in life? The premise is always the same. For us, just trying to develop these young men to be as successful as possible.”
A difficult side of being an assistant coach is seeing players do the work and then not accomplish their goals, Cloepfil said. There is a deep investment and concern among the coaches for the players as people, he added, and it’s hard when something doesn’t work out.
Cloepfil has been around basketball and sports as long as he can remember. He started playing in recreation leagues while growing up in Evans, and the game’s stayed with him. He said he might have been a better baseball player, but he preferred the indoors to an unpredictable Colorado spring for baseball season, and hoops won out.
Cloepfil credited coaches for being strong influences for him and his friends through high school. One of those coaches was Randy Zabka, who selected Cloepfil in a youth recreational league draft.
Northern Colorado Bears men’s basketball assistant coach and director of performance Brett Cloepfil talks to his players about a drill during a practice at Bank of Colorado Arena on the campus of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (Brice Tucker/Staff Photographer)
Cloepfil said Zabka made a “huge difference” in the Greeley-Evans basketball community. Zabka, 73, played football for two years at Bethany College in Kansas before transferring to UNC. Zabka was a member of the parks and recreation commission in Evans, and he coached youth sports while working full time.
On Clopefil’s recommendation, Zabka said he started coaching junior high basketball when Cloepfil was in ninth grade. Zabka then coached basketball and volleyball in Greeley-Evans District 6 schools for more than a decade. Zabka said Cloepfil was a natural player and a coach on the court.
“He wasn’t very big, but he played big,” Zabka said. “Way beyond his size. He knew what to do, he did it and he did it well.”