North Dakota Preps

Who are some of the winningest coaches in class B basketball? Who are some of the great coaches that are still coaching today? To start discussion, one name that comes to mind would be Dan Carr of Linton.

Bob Hunskor - Newburg
Ed Beyer - Hillsboro

For ND Class B (who are currently coaching)
Dan Carr - Linton, Brent Kleinsasser - Strasburg, Jeff Hagler - North Star, Jeremy Brandt - Beulah, Mike Dwyer - Shiloh. Those are the ones that pop into my mind right off the bat.
I'm sure there are a number of very good coaches who have been around for a while (that are still coaching) that I missed so feel free to add on!

Sportsrube wrote:For ND Class B (who are currently coaching)
Dan Carr - Linton, Brent Kleinsasser - Strasburg, Jeff Hagler - North Star, Jeremy Brandt - Beulah, Mike Dwyer - Shiloh. Those are the ones that pop into my mind right off the bat.
I'm sure there are a number of very good coaches who have been around for a while (that are still coaching) that I missed so feel free to add on!

Dave Nelson-MPCG
Grinnsteiner-Trinity
Jack Demaine-Munich
Curt Herman-Tolna

Just to name a few.....

Doug Wagner-DLB - 30+ years and still going

Ron Carlson - Minnewaukan, Mwkn/Shey, and Mwkn/Leeds

Steve Carnal - Oak Grove (1980's thru 2008)

2nd to Dan Carr. Also Brent Kleinsasser(Strausburg-Zeeland) and Darren Thieges(Lamoure) IMO all class act guys.

Mike Santjer and Rick Smith. While some may say their teams are only the players, these two coaches have made sure they did well.

Chris Brown, Berthold. Yeah he is only in his 2nd year, but seems to be heading in the right direction.

Brock Teets of Bishop Ryan. Always knows how to put a team together and make things work.

Mike Santjer of Rugby has only been head coach for 5 or 6 years but I know in the last 4 years his teams are 95-10. Not a bad way to start your career !!

bsoldiergirl wrote:Doug Wagner-DLB - 30+ years and still going

He's definitely got the longevity...I'm not sure I would put him in a great coach category however. DLB has made state twice? under him in all that time? Lost in the first round in '82 and in the Finals in '93. (Steve Holen team) Can't think of anymore appearances for the Lakers.

Blackheart wrote:

bsoldiergirl wrote:Doug Wagner-DLB - 30+ years and still going

He's definitely got the longevity...I'm not sure I would put him in a great coach category however. DLB has made state twice? under him in all that time? Lost in the first round in '82 and in the Finals in '93. (Steve Holen team) Can't think of anymore appearances for the Lakers.

Were there in 1998 and took 4th.

ndlionsfan wrote:

Blackheart wrote:

bsoldiergirl wrote:Doug Wagner-DLB - 30+ years and still going

He's definitely got the longevity...I'm not sure I would put him in a great coach category however. DLB has made state twice? under him in all that time? Lost in the first round in '82 and in the Finals in '93. (Steve Holen team) Can't think of anymore appearances for the Lakers.

Were there in 1998 and took 4th.

Ok, thanks.

Blackheart wrote:

ndlionsfan wrote:

Blackheart wrote:

bsoldiergirl wrote:Doug Wagner-DLB - 30+ years and still going

He's definitely got the longevity...I'm not sure I would put him in a great coach category however. DLB has made state twice? under him in all that time? Lost in the first round in '82 and in the Finals in '93. (Steve Holen team) Can't think of anymore appearances for the Lakers.

Were there in 1998 and took 4th.

Ok, thanks.

DLB made it in 92 and 93. I think they took 6th or 7th in 92 and 2nd in 93.

As I read all the replies to Great Coaches of Class B - I see the only criteria for being termed great is won-loss record. While winning games is one measure of greatness, it is only one measure. Many great or very good coaches have never been to the "big dance", I do not think that diminishes their ability to coach the game. Great coaching is more than just winning. Great coaching is teaching life skills such as respect, hard work, fair play, teamwork, all the aforementioned things that are applicable to a players role in society. If those criteria are used I think North Dakota is blessed with many great coaches. JMHO and 2 cents.

the old guy wrote:As I read all the replies to Great Coaches of Class B - I see the only criteria for being termed great is won-loss record. While winning games is one measure of greatness, it is only one measure. Many great or very good coaches have never been to the "big dance", I do not think that diminishes their ability to coach the game. Great coaching is more than just winning. Great coaching is teaching life skills such as respect, hard work, fair play, teamwork, all the aforementioned things that are applicable to a players role in society. If those criteria are used I think North Dakota is blessed with many great coaches. JMHO and 2 cents.

Excellent post - You are spot on. There have been a few coaches who had success in the win column but were not exactly the best people. The vast majority of these players will not play past HS and so the life lessons they learn along the way far outweigh the wins and losses if a program is being run the right way.

Flying Wallenda wrote:

Blackheart wrote:

ndlionsfan wrote:

Blackheart wrote:

bsoldiergirl wrote:Doug Wagner-DLB - 30+ years and still going

He's definitely got the longevity...I'm not sure I would put him in a great coach category however. DLB has made state twice? under him in all that time? Lost in the first round in '82 and in the Finals in '93. (Steve Holen team) Can't think of anymore appearances for the Lakers.

Were there in 1998 and took 4th.

Ok, thanks.

DLB made it in 92 and 93. I think they took 6th or 7th in 92 and 2nd in 93.

Yup...I remembered the 93 teams 2nd place finish,ndid not recall 92 though.

Sportsrube wrote:

the old guy wrote:As I read all the replies to Great Coaches of Class B - I see the only criteria for being termed great is won-loss record. While winning games is one measure of greatness, it is only one measure. Many great or very good coaches have never been to the "big dance", I do not think that diminishes their ability to coach the game. Great coaching is more than just winning. Great coaching is teaching life skills such as respect, hard work, fair play, teamwork, all the aforementioned things that are applicable to a players role in society. If those criteria are used I think North Dakota is blessed with many great coaches. JMHO and 2 cents.

Excellent post - You are spot on. There have been a few coaches who had success in the win column but were not exactly the best people. The vast majority of these players will not play past HS and so the life lessons they learn along the way far outweigh the wins and losses if a program is being run the right way.

Agree...it's about more than wins and losses if you want to be considered a great coach.

I don't think there's any way to accurately evaluate coaching at the Class B level unless you actually understand the game enough to see what tactics they're applying, how they adjust in-game, and how they figure out their rotations in order to get the best groupings on the floor. Winning can't matter that much because the unfortunate truth is that some B schools have many, many more athletes than others. You look at the bigger Class B towns over the last 5-10 years and they've supplied many of the great teams. It's unfortunate but a lot of little towns are dying out and more co-ops are forming. Many smaller areas tend to produce great teams in spurts and then fade out for others, and it's really about the athleticism, size, and interest of the kids involved. Obviously, basketball is bigger in some places than others.

Anyway, my point is that you can take any coach we deem great in this thread and find places where he or she won't produce wins and it would have next to nothing to do with his or her competence as a coach. It's a generational thing. Continuity is so rare because the population isn't going to produce extremely athletic groupings over and over again. I don't mean this as a criticism--perhaps the generations that aren't as athletic excel in things like speech or drama or music, and that's just as impressive as excelling in sports.

Anyway, just thought I'd leave my 2 cents.

ndsportsfan44 wrote:Mike Santjer of Rugby has only been head coach for 5 or 6 years but I know in the last 4 years his teams are 95-10. Not a bad way to start your career !!

Update ** Make that 98-10 in the last 4 years and a state title , a state runner up last year , and a 6th place finish in 2013 !!!

Another thing that it takes to be a great head coach is great assistant coaches ,they are the ones that are helping game plan for each game and developing the younger talent that will be playing varsity in a couple of years. Rugby has a couple of great ones in Brian Olson and Mike Heidlebaugh.

ndsportsfan44 wrote:Another thing that it takes to be a great head coach is great assistant coaches ,they are the ones that are helping game plan for each game and developing the younger talent that will be playing varsity in a couple of years. Rugby has a couple of great ones in Brian Olson and Mike Heidlebaugh.

That's true. Assistants can make or break a coach and Santjer has to be lucky he has both of those two on the bench with him.

HammerTime wrote:

ndsportsfan44 wrote:Another thing that it takes to be a great head coach is great assistant coaches ,they are the ones that are helping game plan for each game and developing the younger talent that will be playing varsity in a couple of years. Rugby has a couple of great ones in Brian Olson and Mike Heidlebaugh.

That's true. Assistants can make or break a coach and Santjer has to be lucky he has both of those two on the bench with him.

Mike Hanson as an assistant coach also comes to mind.