The Minnesota High School Basketball Hall of Fame committee has announced the first class to be induced and it includes a virtual who's who of basketball in the state.  Minnesota High school basketball recently celebrated it's 100th anniversary and now will have a special place to recognize it's players, teams, coaches and contributors.

The Minnesota Basketball Hall of Fame, in conjunction with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx, will have a display in the skyway of the recently renovated Target Center to honor the inductees.  I received an email from the committee stating, "The goal of the Hall of Fame is to celebrate the rich history of high school basketball from around the state by recognizing the most successful players, teams, coaches and other contributors."

An inaugural class of 14 inductees will be honored Monday, March 26, with a reception at the Courts at Mayo Clinic Center at the second floor Experience Center from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The Minnesota High School Basketball Hall of Fame committee was established in 2011.  There are currently 11 members on the committee including former Mankato East boys Head Coach David A. Johnson and former Minnesota Transitions Coach John Sherman.

Minnesota Basketball News Editor Ron Haggstrom is also a member of the committee and says anyone can nominate a player, coach, contributor or team to the Minnesota High School Basketball Hall of Fame committee.  Nominations can be made on the Hall of Fame website at www.mnhsbasketballhall.com.  The statewide committee oversees the selection process.

Players become eligible for the Hall of Fame 10 years after he/she has played high school basketball.  Coaches are eligible after 15 years of starting their careers.

The President of the Hall of Fame committee is former University of Minnesota Athletic Director Joel Maturi.

The first class includes the following:

Boys

  • Randy Breuer of Lake City Class of 1979.  The late KDHL Lake City Sportscaster Gordy Hinck told us during the 60th year of KDHL broadcasting of the State High School Boys Basketball Tournament ten years ago that Breuer was the best high school player he covered.
  • Khalid El-Amin of Minneapolis North, a clutch performer in high school and college.  He led the Polars to three consecutive state titles and was Mr. Basketball in 1997.  He led the University of Connecticut to a NCAA Championship in 1999 and was drafted in the second round of the NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls.
  • Kevin McHale of Hibbing Class of 1976.  Also Mr. Basketball after leading the Bluejackets to a second place finish at the state tournament.  Set a tournament record for field goal percentage by missing just seven shots the entire tournament. (27 of 34).  McHale also had his numbers retired at the University of Minnesota and with the Boston Celtics of the NBA and was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame.
  • Mark Olberding of Melrose Class of 1974.  In his first state tournament game as a junior, Olberding scored 36 points, had 29 rebounds, and blocked four shots in a win over Preston.  Olberding played one year at the University of Minnesota and then turned professional.  He played 12 seasons in the ABA and NBA for five different teams.  The late KDHL Sportscasting legend Mike Morrissey always said he was the best high school player he ever saw.
  • Ron Johnson of New Prague Class of 1956.  Was the first player to finish his high school career with over 2,000 points.  His 33.8 points per game average in state tournament play still stands as the career record.  This spanned two tournament.  Johnson scored over a thousand points at the University of Minnesota and was drafted in the second round by the Detroit Pistons in 1960.
  • Jim McIntyre of Minneapolis Patrick Henry Class of 1945.  His 1,027 career points was the third most in state history at the time.  He set the single game scoring record in the state tournament four times.  He then was a two-time All-American at the University of Minnesota where he scored over a thousand points and turned down an NBA career to become a minister.
  • Bob McDonald legendary Chisholm Head Coach and all-time wins leader in high school state history (1,012-428) over 59 seasons.  The final 53 were in Chisholm.  His first coaching jobs were at McGregor and Barnum. From 1973 to 2011 McDonald  led his teams to 11 state tournament appearances and three titles (1973, 1975 and 1991).
  • Team:  Edgerton Flying Dutchmen of 1960.  The Hoosiers type story of Minnesota.  The smallest school to win a state title during the single class era.  The town of about 900 beat perennial power Austin before a record crowd of 19,018 at The Barn.  The overtime win in the semis was one of the greatest games in state tournament history.

Girls

  • Contributor Dorothy McIntyre of Edina.  In the 1960's McIntyre began a lifelong advocate of expanding athletic programs to include girls.  McIntyre became an Associate Director for the MSHSL in 1970 and helped develop girls programs.  She was with MSHSL for 32 years and ran nearly every girls state tournament.  McIntyre taught at Ellendale-Geneva High School from 1957 to 1959 and Eden Prairie High School from 1959-1970.
  • Team: Grand Meadow from 1929 to 1939.  Those Grand Meadow girls basketball teams won 94 consecutive games over that time frame.  They outscored their opponents by an average 38-12.  They played the two court game with six players to a team.  I call it Iowa rules.
  • Coach Myron Glass of Rochester Lourdes.  The second winningest coach in state history with 719 wins over 31 seasons.  The Eagles went to 15 state tournaments and Glass was 8 for 8 when getting to the championship game.
  • Faith Johnson Patterson of Minneapolis North and DeLaSalle goes in as a player and a coach.  She took 14 teams to the state tournament over a 17 year span (1997-2013) winning 8 state titles (5 at North and 3 at DeLaSalle).  She also scored over 2,000 points during her career at Marshall University in Minneapolis.  Johnson Patterson went on to play at the University of Wisconsin and scored over a thousand points there.
  • Janet Karvonen-Montgomery of New York Mills Class of 1980.  Led the Eagles to three consecutive state titles before starring at Old Dominion and Louisiana Tech.  In high school had over 3,00 career points which stood for a very long time as the most.  She was the national high school player of the year in 1980.  Karvonen-Montgomery made final four appearances with both schools she played college ball.
  • Lindsey Whalen of Hutchinson Class of 2000.  Scored 1,996 points in high school with 82 consecutive games in double figures and 21 career triple doubles.  Then went to the University of Minnesota and led the Gophers to a final four appearance in 2004.  Whalen has won four WNBA titles with the Minnesota Lynx, two gold medals with Team USA in the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.

This is the perfect year for the first Minnesota Basketball Hall of Fame Class because KDHL Radio is celebrating our 70th year on the airwaves and the Mighty 920 has been a part of every high school boys basketball tournament since going on the air in 1948.

We broadcast every game of the tournament for most years until there were too many classes to do it.

KDHL still broadcasts all the state title games and semi-final games and the first couple of days covers area teams and games that are not on television.

Class 2A Awards Ceremony 2016 State Girls Basketball Tournament- photo by Gordy Kosfeld
Class 2A Awards Ceremony 2016 State Girls Basketball Tournament- photo by Gordy Kosfeld
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