Article

MSU basketball team takes run at greatness

Former coaches, players like what they see in this year's team

By Chad Courrier
Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — The Minnesota State men's basketball team is 18-2 (4-1 in the North Central Conference) and scoring points at a record pace.

The Mavericks opened the season with 12 straight victories, equaling the best start in school history. Minnesota State worked its way up to No. 2 in the national poll, the program's highest-ever ranking, and last week, the Mavericks received a first-place vote and finished third.

The single-season scoring record will likely fall as the Mavericks have scored 1,782 points and need just 527 points over the last seven regular-season games, plus any playoff games that might lie ahead. The Mavericks are averaging 88.9 points, far ahead of the school record of 84.6 points per game set last season.

Despite Thursday's loss at North Dakota, the team has already accomplished so much, though the success of the Mavericks won't be determined until season's end.

So is this the best team ever at Minnesota State?

Minnesota State doesn't have a storied history of national success in basketball, making only six appearances in postseason tournaments since the program began in 1921: 1947, 1948, 1964, 1976, 1979 and 1980.

However, when it comes the best teams ever, many observers point to two squads: 1946-47 and 1975-76.

The 1946-47 team was 17-4 and reached the championship game of the NAIA tournament, losing to Marshall 78-59. The team produced the program's first All-American, Hank Epp.

The 1975-76 team, the last Minnesota State team to win a North Central Conference championship, advanced to the NCAA regional tournament, posting an 18-10 record. The team featured such memorable players as Elisha McSweeney, Curt Clark, Gil Williams, Doug Probst and Gene Glynn.

Here's a few opinions from people who have spent a good portion of their lives either playing, coaching or watching Mavericks basketball.

Duane Mettler, who played at Minnesota State from 1952 to 1956, is one of the top players in program history. He ranks seventh at Minnesota State with 1,472 points in his career, including a 566-point performance in 1955-56, which is the seventh-best in the school's record books.

In his four seasons, the Mavericks were 76-29, winning the championship of the Minnesota State College Conference each year. His first coach at Minnesota State was Jim Witham, who coached the '46-47 team, and Mettler said he heard a lot of stories.

"They'd have a tough time beating this team," Mettler said with a chuckle. "The players are so much bigger and quicker. Of course, there was no dunk because that was a technical foul."

Mettler said the 1955 team was pretty good, going 18-4 with three losses to Gustavus Adolphus. He also liked the teams from the early 1960s, which featured John Schultz and Jon Hagen, two of the top 13 scorers in school history.

Mettler has seen a lot of basketball since, sitting courtside at Bresnan Arena, and he's having as much joy as ever being a Mavericks fan.

"They're just a lot of fun to watch," Mettler said. "Every night, they play hard. They go so hard to the basket."

Charlie Ahlstrom - who played from 1957 to 1961 - won two MSCC championships, posting a 52-28 record in his four seasons. He said the 1960-61 team that went 20-5 was the best of those.

"None of us cared who scored; that didn't mean a thing," Ahlstrom said. "We were close as a team, and everything we did was a team effort."

Ahlstrom used to sneak into the games during the late 1940s, but he doesn't recall seeing the 1946-47 team. Nowadays, he's a season ticketholder, not missing many home games.

"This team we have right now is up there (in school history)," Ahlstrom said. "They can run the floor, they do so many things, they're 10 deep. They don't have any weaknesses.

"Like us (in 1961), they're not a selfish team. There's nothing that can rip you apart faster than selfishness."

Butch Raymond coached at Minnesota State from 1973 to 1984, compiling a 164-133 record. His teams had a good run in the mid- to late-'70s, including the 1975-76 team and teams that qualified for the NAIA playoffs in 1979 and 1980. The 1978-79 team was the last conference champion at Minnesota State, winning the Northern Intercollegiate Conference title and setting a program record with 23 victories.

"(The 1975-76 team) was very exciting," said Raymond, now the commissioner of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. "It was rewarding to win the (conference) championship, and the first one is always special.

"But the (1978-79 team) was probably the best one. A lot of those players had played on the earlier teams, and they were seniors then."

Raymond remembers the final game of that season, a second-round game in the NAIA playoffs against St. John's at Otto Arena. The gym was packed, and the teams didn't disappoint as St. John's pulled out an 84-82 victory in overtime.

"That's the greatest game I've been involved with," Raymond said. "Unfortunately, we lost."

Raymond said there many similarities between his teams from the 1970s and this year's Mavericks, whom Raymond has seen twice. He said current point guard Andy Moeller is similar player to Glynn, and Jamel Staten reminds him somewhat of McSweeney.

"Moeller is an outstanding point guard, and Staten is as good, if not the best player in the North Central," Raymond said. "Then they have a lot of good players around them."

Dan McCarrell, the winningest coach in school history with a 284-189 record in 17 seasons, took over for Raymond in 1984. He never coached an NCC champion, though his teams finished in the upper half of the league 13 times, including six times in third place.

"We had a lot of good teams, not a great team," McCarrell said.

McCarrell said his best team was probably the 1988-89 squad that featured guard Brian Koepnick, the leading scorer in school history with 1,759 points. That team had an early-season victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which went on to win the region tournament, and the Mavericks finished with four victories in the last five games to get to 19-9. But a tournament berth was not extended.

The 1996-97 team featured David Kruse. That team was 16-5 when point guard Ausery Washington suffered a season-ending knee injury, causing the team to drop five of the last six games.

"We had a couple of teams on the verge," McCarrell said. "We were consistently good, not great."

There are seven regular-season games remaining, and at least one game to be played in the conference tournament. The Mavericks are just five victories short of tying the single-season school record, which means this team is good.

However, to be considered great, there needs to be more than records and rankings. The Mavericks must finish strong in the NCC, qualify for the national tournament and then win at least a couple of games, for great teams are generally measured by championships.

"I think this a special team," said coach Matt Margenthaler, who was an assistant coach on some pretty good teams at South Dakota State. "With the athletes we have, and the talent we have, it's hard to come by.

"I don't know how this is all going to end, but if stay together and we play together, we can be awfully good."