The University of Texas Permian Basin men's basketball program has announced the hiring of veteran coach Shane Paben as Associate Head Coach for the 2025-26 season. 
 
"At the end of the season I felt like the biggest priority was getting someone here to help me with good experience," said Head Coach Kyle Tolin. "Shane has been a head coach for a long time. He was at a NCAA division II school in our region, so he understands how good our league is. He is loyal and has a great work ethic. We are very fortunate that we have got someone of Shane's caliber to come in here. He has already had great influence on the program in a positive way." 
 
Paben arrives in Odessa with over 20 years of coaching experience, including a transformative four-year tenure as head coach at Chadron State College (Neb.). He inherited a struggling program and quickly turned it around, leading the Eagles to their first postseason appearance in a decade during his first season. Despite a second year plagued by injuries, his team still managed to win 10 games. In his third year, Paben guided the program to its most conference wins in school history, a victory over a top-10 opponent—the first in over 20 years—and three All-Conference selections, another program first. That season, he was also named HoopDirt.com NCAA DII National Coach of the Week and celebrated his 300th career win. In his final season, he led the Eagles to their third postseason appearance in four years—making him the only coach in Chadron history to achieve that feat. He concluded his tenure with a collegiate head coaching record of 321-152. 
 
Before Chadron, Paben served as the head coach at Bellevue University (Neb.) from 2008 to 2019. During his 11 seasons at the helm, he built one of the most respected programs in NAIA Division II. Under his leadership, the Bruins made 10 consecutive national tournament appearances, including two Fab Four finishes and six Sweet 16 trips. He compiled a 275-100 overall record and became the program's all-time wins leader. His 2016-17 team reached the NAIA Final Four, won both the regular season and tournament titles in the North Star Athletic Association, and finished with a No. 6 national ranking. 
 
Paben's coaching résumé also includes successful assistant coaching roles at Southern Nazarene (Okla.) and Morningside (Iowa), as well as an impactful high school coaching career in Nebraska and Iowa. He began his coaching journey by revitalizing East Union High School (Iowa), where he led the program to three consecutive district titles and sub-state appearances—both firsts in school history. 
 
A native of Pickrell, Nebraska, Paben was a two-sport athlete in basketball and tennis at Nebraska Wesleyan University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in education with a focus on history and social science. He later completed a master's degree in history from the University of South Dakota in 2007. 
 
Outside of basketball, Paben enjoys spending time with his family, working out, golfing, reading, and watching movies. He is married to Dr. Mickie Burns-Paben and has two sons Drew and Will, and a dog George. 
 
"I am excited to take this program to the next level," said Coach Paben.