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FIVE NAMED FOR 2011 INDUCTION TO MBCA HALL
OF FAME

From l to r: Howard Bahn, Carolyn Dullum,
Eloise Stroud (daughters of Perry Doney), Larry Weum,
Dan Brink, and Don Tangen
Read the Full Release with
Inductee Bios
The Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association
has named five men who will be inducted into the MBCA
Hall of Fame this October. The purpose of the MBCA Hall
of Fame is to give special recognition to the people of
Minnesota who have made significant contributions to
promote high school basketball in the state via their
achievements and service.
The 2011 inductees are:
·
Howard Bahn – Kimball
·
Dan Brink – St. Paul Central/St.
Paul Como Park
·
Perry Doney – Hector/Wood
Lake/Canby
·
Don Tangen – Glencoe-Silver Lake
·
Larry Weum – Robbinsdale Armstrong.
The induction ceremonies will be held at the MBCA Hall
of Fame Banquet on Sunday, October 30th,
12:00 p.m., at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in
Minneapolis. |
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FIVE NAMED FOR 2011 INDUCTION TO MBCA HALL
OF HONOR

left to right: Barry Wortel, Gary
Addington, Jeff Munneke, Bill Haben Jr. (son of Bill
Haben Sr.), Jim Robinson
Read the Full Release With
Inductee Bios
The MBCA Hall of
Honor has been established to honor those persons who
have helped to improve/promote/ and or serve basketball
in Minnesota. Honorees have been longtime supporters of
their local teams or have given outstanding service to
the game of basketball. Awards are given in four
categories: Officials, Media, Coach - Head/Assistant,
and Friend of Basketball. To be eligible for the Hall of
Honor, a person must have been involved with basketball
for at least 20 years. That person must be nominated by
a MBCA member, the MBCA Executive Board, or the MBCA
Hall of Fame committee.
The following
individuals will be inducted as the members of the MBCA
Hall of Honor in 2011:
·
Gary
Addington; Coach/Administrator
·
Bill
Haben ; Coach
·
Jeff
Munneke, Friend of Basketball
·
Jim
Robinson, Official
·
Barry
Wortel, Media
The honorees will be
honored guests, recognized, and presented with a plaque
at the MBCA Fall Clinic Awards Luncheon at the Hyatt
Regency Hotel, Minneapolis on Friday, October 28, 2011.
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Ken Novak Jr. named
Coach of the Year
Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.) coach named ESPN RISE
Boys National Coach of the Year
Related: To see list
of all-time national coach of the year honorees,
CLICK HERE
Ken Novak Jr. was raised
to be a high school coach.
The 54-year old mentor has
taken his alma mater, Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.), to
new heights, making it the team to beat in Minnesota.
It’s the reason Novak Jr. is the ESPN RISE
National Boys basketball Coach of the Year for
2010-11.
He’s
the first coach from Minnesota to earn the national
honor, which dates back to 1970.
Novak's father, Ken Sr., coached
Hopkins from 1954-83, but the Minnesota Hall of Famer
never celebrated a state championship. Playing for his
father, Novak learned valuable coaching skills which
paid dividends in his own career.
"It was definitely a positive to grow up in a coaching
home," said the younger Novak. "I went on to Augsburg
College (Minn.) and played two years before becoming a
student-coach. Those years prepared me well for what
I've done the last 32 years."
Novak started his coaching career at Blaine (Blaine,
Minn.), where he served three years as an assistant
before assuming the head coaching job for seven seasons.
In 1990, he returned to his alma mater to start what is
a 22-year tenure as Royals' head coach. His coaching
record in that span is 542-74 with six state Class 4A
crowns.
This season, Hopkins won an unprecedented third straight
state championship in Minnesota's largest class and was
ranked No. 15 in the
POWERADEFAB 50 ESPN RISE national rankings.
Before Novak arrived on the sidelines, Hopkins had won
only two boys' titles, both in the early 1950's.
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Ken Novak's Coaching Keys |
Novak said there's no secret to
successful coaching, but
he approaches it with the
following perspectives:
1. Coach individuals
Don't treat players like
numbers. They are different in a
lot of ways.
2. Stress versatility
I want well-rounded players who
can do about everything on the
court. Having five players with
point guard skills is a good
thing.
3. Stress unseIfishness
I want players at all
positions who can pass well and,
when they have the ball, can see
four other players on the
court. |
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Novak's overall
29-year head coaching record is 660-121. He hasn't
limited his coaching skills to boys’ teams, either. He
coached both the Royals' boys' and girls' teams for a
few years and his 1995 girls squad captured a state
crown.
The current Hopkins' female team also won a title this
season, its third since 2004.
"We have a good program at Hopkins because our
student-athletes get involved at an early age," Novak
said. "They take advantage of open gymnasiums and
weightlifting opportunities."
This year's 31-1 team, beat Eden Prairie (Eden Prairie,
Minn.) in a rubber-match in the state final, was led by
6-foot-4 guard Joe Coleman, a Minnesota
recruit and State Mr. Basketball.
Coleman, an
ESPNRISE Second Team All-American, was labeled by
Novak as, "The best athlete I've coached."
That list includes Joe's brother Dan,
who also played at Minnesota and professionally in
Europe, 2003 McDonald’s All-American Kris
Humphries and Blake Hoffarber,
who won an ESPY in 2005 for making a highlight reel shot
in the state final against Eastview (Apple Valley,
Minn.). |
Dave Cresap MaxPreps 2010-11 National
Male Sport Coach of the Year
Dave Cresap directed Perham's basketball
team and community during a challenging and
championship season.
Without his top player most of the season, Dave Cresap
led tiny
Perham (Minn.) to a 31-1 record and its first
Minnesota 2A boys basketball championship.
But that’s not why Cresap was picked as the 2010-11
MaxPreps.com National Coach of the Year.
Not by a long shot.
Cresap kept an entire small but spirited community
together, a region that was rocked not once but twice
with startling and even tragic news during the season.
This wasn’t a coaching award only, but also recognition
for true leadership in a region that needed him most.
This extended far beyond the basketball court.
Dave Cresap earned praise by posting a 31-1
record at Perham. But his ability to guide
his school, and his town, through tragedy is
what earned him the MaxPreps Male
Coach of the Year award.
Leading scorer and ever-popular Zach Gabbard went
down with a heart ailment midway through the first half
of the team’s 11th game. He clung to life that night,
the rest of the season and finally joined the squad in
the locker room during the playoffs.
When Gabbard’s life was in peril, many bloodshot eyes
looked to Cresap for answers. The 16-year coach who had
just turned 50 had been awake with Gabbard’s family for
close to 100 hours. Teens at school were searching for
reasons why their 17-year-old peer and basketball star —
seemingly in impeccable shape — could suddenly be
fighting for his life.
"I honestly didn't know what to say," Cresap recalled.
"I definitely could have crumbled. But thank the good
Lord, a light bulb went off inside and I told them I
would be there for them, that we would get through this
… together."
The community rallied, reached out
nationwide and raised more than $100,000 to defray
medical costs for the Gabbard family.
Cresap also got the Yellowjackets focused and organized
on the court. They played with a purpose. Scoring duties
were divvied up. Motivation – even against lesser
opponents – was never an issue.
Team huddles were broken with "one clap for Zach," and
much like the Marine call of "leave no wounded behind,"
Cresap started a "Put Zach on our back" credo.
"The thing is, we knew every day that Zach was fighting
for his life so the least we could do was fight on and
fight through adversity on the court for an hour or two
a day," said
Jordan Cresap, Dave’s son who took Zach’s place in
the starting lineup.
The final week of the season, Perham’s community was
rocked again with news of the murder of a fellow student
Tabitha Belmonte, 16, who was shot numerous times by her
boyfriend Dylan Cox, who fatally shot himself.
Many of the players knew Belmonte.
"We got on the team bus (to go to state championship
game at the Target Center in Minneapolis) and discussed
it," coach Cresap said. "The kids got to talk to each
other about her, about what happened. We'd been through
so much all season. We eventually refocused on Zach and
the game, and as always, they responded."
It wasn't the prettiest of victories, a 45-37 victory
over
Lourdes (Rochester, Minn.) in the championship — but
then again, nothing about the season was tied with a red
bow.
Gabbard, who was hoping to attend the game, had to watch
from a hospital bed.
"He was just a little worn out," Cresap said that day.
“He couldn't get out of bed. His doctor said he needed
to rest today. We called and asked for his will and his
strength, and he gave it to us and we were able to
persevere and win a state championship for him."
“It feels good for me, but you know what? It goes out to
the kids,” he said. “The kids do all the work. I’m happy
for it, but I want all the honors to go to those kids.”
Cresap’s larger-than-coaching
season helped him outscore many more well-known and
prominent coaches of high-profile teams. Such as: |
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2010 -2011 MBCA
Awards |
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State Coach of the Year |
Section Coaches of the Year |
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Academic Individual |
Academic Team |
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Coaches vs. Cancer: A Minnesota Success
Story
Posted by
John Millea (jmillea@mshsl.org)-
Updated 3/21/2011 12:11:01 PM
“Oh coach, you look so cute in pink!”
The compliment came from a smiling elementary student,
and Ellsworth High School boys basketball coach Tyler
Morris smiled right back. He was wearing a white shirt,
pink tie and pink sweater vest on this special Saturday
in January.

Pink, in fact, was the color of the day because it was
Coaches vs. Cancer night in Ellsworth. The occasion was
a boys basketball game; the Ellsworth Panthers have a
reputation for excellence in the sport, winning Class 1A
state titles in 2007 and 2008 and finishing second at
state in 2003, 2006 and 2009.
One of the smallest schools in Minnesota with an
enrollment of only 61 students in grades nine through
12, Ellsworth (Morris is pictured at right) also has
become a champion at raising funds to fight cancer. In
2010, Ellworth’s Coaches vs. Cancer event brought in
more than $1,500. This year, the total was more than
$2,200. For such a small school in a rural southwestern
Minnesota community of approximately 500 people, those
are amazing numbers. Read the
Rest of the Story |
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MNBASKETBALLHUB.COM
TST media and
the Star Tribune announce
MNBasketballhub.com A one stop site for complete
coverage and scores of ALL Prep basketball in
Minnesota. |
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2010 - 11 Coaches MBCA Awards Timeline |
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MBCA Teams
Up with the American Cancer Society for Coaches vs.
Cancer
The Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association has
selected the weeks of January 24-29 and January
30-February 5 as MBCA Coaches vs. Cancer weeks for High
School basketball in Minnesota. Schools may choose dates
that lie outside these two weeks if they choose to do
so.
Coaches vs. Cancer is a nationwide collaboration
between the American Cancer Society and the National
Association of Basketball Coaches. The initiative was
established to increase cancer awareness and promote
healthy living through year-round efforts, fundraising
activities and advocacy programs in support of the
Society’s mission to eliminate cancer.
Introduction Letter
Coaches vs.
Cancer Toolkit
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Current
Members |
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