[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 27, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1318-S1319]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TRIBUTE TO GARY MUNSEN--A BASKETBALL COACHING MILESTONE

  Mr. PRESSLER. Mr. President, during the cold and snowy winter months 
in South Dakota, many of my constituents enjoy the excitement of the 
basketball courts as a reprieve from the cold. This year, a very heated 
basketball season is melting the snow off the city of Mitchell, SD. 
Mitchell's basketball coach, Gary Munsen, has reached a milestone in 
South Dakota high school basketball--he has recorded 500 career wins.
  Gary Munsen's achievement represents his long, dedicated service to 
the game of basketball in South Dakota, and more important, his players 
and his community. Gary is living proof that hard work and a strong 
commitment are the foundation of South Dakotans' success. Gary's 
success also comes from his understanding that coaching is more than 
teaching kids how to put an orange ball through an iron hoop. Coaching 
is about teaching young people the importance of teamwork, discipline, 
hard work, and individual effort. Gary Munsen has made many sacrifices 
during his career as a basketball coach. But Gary's incredible effort, 
determination and commitment have made him a brilliant coach. I extend 
my congratulations to him for his outstanding record.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the complete text of an 
article highlighting Gary Munsen's career be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the article was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

        [From the Argus Header, Sioux Falls (SD), Feb. 4, 1996]

 Munsen Hanging Tough--Mitchell Coach's Road to 500 Wins Hasn't Always 
                              Been Smooth

                            (By Stu Whitney)

       Gary Munsen doesn't need numbers to prove his perseverance. 
     His stubborn survival as South Dakota's master of March could 
     never be that simple or pure.
       But some numbers are too significant to ignore, and they 
     are used to measure Mitchell's basketball mentor against 
     other mortals.
       Victory is a comfortable criteria for Munsen. He shines 
     every time.
       After Saturday's triumph over Washington, he needs one more 
     win to become the second coach in state history to claim 500 
     boys basketball victories. Gayle Hoover compiled 577 in 34 
     seasons at Parker.
       The milestone might be reached Tuesday in Brookings, but 
     Munsen is more concerned about keeping this year's Kernels on 
     course. They are 11-1 and ranked No. 1 in Class AA.
       ``I'm not one of those guys who set out to coach 30 years 
     and get my plaque,'' says Munsen, whose 499-161 record 
     includes six state championships. ``I'm also not on some kind 
     of mission to break Hoover's record.''
       To assert this, Munsen talks about walking away. He turns 
     53 on March 12, so early retirement from Mitchell's school 
     system could come in 1998.
       ``I've spent all my life doing this, and maybe it hurt my 
     family sometimes,'' says Munsen, who grew up 35 miles west of 
     Mitchell in White Lake.
       ``I might get out of education altogether, if I can afford 
     it. We've got a great athlete in (sophomore guard) Mike 
     Miller, and I told him when he goes, I'll go with him.''
       Munsen has coached Mitchell's girls to a 141-21 record and 
     three state titles since 1989, but he plans to drop that 
     extra responsibility after next season. He almost did it at 
     last season's state tournament in Rapid City.
       ``Before the finals against O'Gorman, I decided I was going 
     to get out of girls basketball if we won,'' recalls Munsen. 
     ``It just seemed like a good time to get out.''
       When Mitchell was upset by the Knights, however, Munsen was 
     stuck for another year. Such is the burden he has built for 
     himself.
       Critics can mention Munsen's alcohol abuse, his family 
     struggles, but never can they deny that he wins the big 
     games. Even on the high school level, it is that portion of 
     one's reputation that often prevails.
       ``There are probably some people who don't like him, but I 
     think a lot of people respect him,'' says son Scott, 30, who 
     coaches track and cross country at the University of South 
     Dakota.
       ``Coming through at the state tournament has always been 
     his style and his strength. I think he figured, `Well, I 
     might not be the smartest guy in the world, but I can outwork 
     them. I can be better prepared.' ''
       But how does Munsen prepare for the end? If retirement 
     means losing the one thing that defined him as a winner, what 
     part of his reputation will ultimately rise?
       ``I was talking to (former Dakota Wesleyan coach) Gordie 
     Fosness about that,'' says Munsen. ``And he said, `When it's 
     time to get out, you get out. You'll know when it's time.'
       ``I still have a love for the game. I'm not as young as I 
     was, but the fire is still there. When the fire's gone, I'm 
     gone.


                              starting out

       When Munsen started his coaching career at Marion High 
     School in 1966, it might have seemed laughable that history 
     would match him with Hoover.
       Just eight miles down the road, Hoover's hard-working 
     Parker squads had established a sure-shooting reputation. 
     They beat Munsen every time the schools met.
       ``He drilled me a few times,'' concedes Munsen, whose 
     collegiate playing career started at Dakota Wesleyan and 
     ended unceremoniously at Dakota State.
       ``But he also showed me how to coach the game. I admire him 
     for the years he stayed all in one place.'' 
     
[[Page S1319]]

       But Hoover remembers thinking that Munsen would not stay in 
     Marion. When the young coach ranted and raved, there was 
     something extra in those eyes.
       ``He was truly enthusiastic about basketball,'' recalls 
     Hoover, who remains Parker's athletic director. ``And I 
     figured he didn't want to stay at a small school. But I don't 
     think Gary knew exactly what he wanted at that time.''
       After three seasons, the decision was made for him. A 
     school board member, unhappy with his son's playing time, 
     pushed through an unpleasant ultimatum.
       ``They basically said, `Do it this way or you'll be the 
     assistant coach,' '' says Munsen. ``A lot of people in the 
     community wanted me to stay, but that really wasn't much of a 
     choice.''


                           moving to mitchell

       Whether classified as a resignation or a firing, Munsen's 
     departure was basically a beginning.
       In 1969, he was hired to teach business at Mitchell's 
     middle school--which included ninth-grade coaching duties in 
     basketball, football and track.
       He also served as an assistant to varsity basketball coach 
     Tim Fisk, whom he met during a brief stay at Wesleyan in 
     1961.
       ``The tough part was getting the people in Mitchell to hire 
     him after what had happened in Marion,'' says fellow White 
     Lake native Jerry Miller, who was Mitchell's wrestling coach 
     at the time.
       ``But once he started coaching, Gary was destined to be a 
     good one. He's got a real knack.''
       When Fish left coaching in 1972, Munsen inherited the 
     program. That first season, the Kernels introduced their new 
     coach to what would become familiar territory.
       ``I had never been to the state tournament--and we got 
     there,'' says Munsen, whose 18-7 team took third and watched 
     Huron beat Yankton in the finals.
       ``The kids we had that year really played above their level 
     of capability. Our biggest kid was 6-foot-4 and we had a 5-5 
     guard, but somehow we found a way.''
       Still, Munsen did not enjoy sudden success at the state 
     level. Yankton had some powerful teams, and getting past the 
     semi-final round became a constant struggle.
       ``It wasn't all roses during the first seven or eight 
     years,'' says Munsen, who saw championship-caliber teams 
     stumble at the 1976 and '78 tournaments.
       ``We had some tough times where it seemed like we couldn't 
     get over the hump. I don't know if my job was ever in 
     jeopardy, but maybe people were saying we couldn't win the 
     big one. I was given a good chance to succeed, though, and I 
     hung in there.''


                            time for success

       Munsen finally broke through in 1984, when all-state guard 
     Kyle Adams led the Kernels past Washington 54-48 for the 
     school's first title in 20 years.
       ``We were so thankful to finally get there that we made the 
     most of the opportunity,'' says Scott Munsen, who was a 
     backup point guard on that team. ``I think (Munsen) felt like 
     if he stuck it out long enough, something good was going to 
     happen.''
       Once Munsen had conquered the state tournament, his 
     appetite for victory became voracious.
       The Kernels, sparked by Bart Friedrick and Chad Andersen, 
     went 27-0 the next season to forge their reputation as a 
     perennial postseason power.
       When Mitchell rose again in 1986--the first year of the 
     three-class system--it became the first South Dakota school 
     to win three straight boys basketball titles since 1924.
       ``Maybe it's easier to get to the state tournament now, but 
     it's not always easy to win it,'' says Munsen, who rose again 
     with a dramatic double-overtime win over Lincoln in 1990 and 
     added titles in '91 and '94.
       ``We always talk about getting back to the tournament and 
     trying to finish higher than the year before. If we won it 
     the previous year, we talk about doing it again.''
       Munsen calls tournament time ``the most exciting part of 
     the game,'' and he speaks from experience. His Mitchell 
     teams--boys and girls--have reached the postseason party 25 
     times.
       His boys teams have compiled a 37-17 record in 18 state 
     tournaments and have finished lower than fifth only twice.
       ``There's something unique about what happens to Gary's 
     teams at tournament time,'' says Miller, now the athletic 
     director at Roosevelt.
       ``And it doesn't happen by accident. It's got to be a 
     mental edge at that point, and what he does to get those kids 
     ready is really something.


                             hanging tough

       As magnificent as Munsen the coach has been, his mystique 
     has been marred by the real-life struggles of Munsen the man.
       His father, Charles, died of cancer in 1987. And his first 
     wife, Cheri, was diagnosed with the same illness in 1989.
       All the hard work in the world couldn't erase that reality, 
     so Munsen looked to escape.
       ``That's when the drinking became heavy,'' he told the 
     Argus Leader in December 1991. ``I had some struggling 
     moments, some tough times. I knew it was a problem, but I 
     just wasn't able to cope.''
       In the fall of 1990, Munsen underwent a month-long alcohol 
     rehabilitation in Aberdeen. He was separated from Cheri when 
     she passed away in 1991.
       ``I didn't handle that very well,'' says Munsen, whose 
     youngest son, Sam, is a Mitchell freshman. ``But it's over 
     and done with. I never, ever lost focus of the program during 
     that time.''
       But problems with his second wife, Pam, also arose. Munsen 
     was arrested for misdemeanor assault Oct. 3, 1994, after she 
     accused him of striking her and knocking her to the floor.
       Davison County State's Attorney Doug Papandick dropped the 
     charge on the condition that Munsen seek counseling, and the 
     couple has reconciled.
       Though this side of Munsen's reputation has been wasted by 
     weakness, a person without strength could never have 
     survived. Even those with frailties can fight, and sometimes 
     they even win.
       In the very near future, Munsen will win for the 500th time 
     and solidify his status as one of the finest coaches in the 
     history of South Dakota basketball.
       It is a status that has grown sturdy through the years, so 
     sturdy that restless rumors and rival reputations cannot 
     possibly steal it away. Munsen knows how sturdy the vision of 
     victory can be. He couldn't even destroy it himself.
       ``He is a strong person,'' says Scott Munsen. ``Whenever he 
     has struggles, he becomes convinced that you have to believe 
     in yourself and become more committed to what you're doing.''
       Until retirement comes, Munsen will commit to the cause 
     that has defined his existence over the past 30 years. After 
     a while, you become accustomed to carrying on.
       ``When someone has a bumpy road but still hangs in there, 
     that's a pretty good quality,'' says Jerry Miller.
       ``Maybe only a guy from White Lake, South Dakota, could do 
     that. When you've been in a small town and lived through some 
     trials and tribulations, you learn how to bite the bullet. 
     You learn to hang in there.''

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