Annandale’s Skip Dolan has held the head coach, offensive coordinator or assistant coaching positions in a total of 87 varsity seasons.
On Saturday, Oct. 28, Dolan held a plaque very few coaches ever receive. This one proclaimed his induction into the Minnesota Coaches Basketball Association Hall of Fame.
Dolan, 61, was inducted at a banquet at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Minneapolis along with coaches Terry Knothe of St. Charles; Kerry Linbo of Byron; Ray Ross of Minneapolis Washburn and Ron Vorwald of Worthington.
Attending the event honoring Dolan were his wife Cathy and their three children, Sam, Dan and Aimee; his brothers Tom and Jim, sister Kim and numerous other relatives; assistant coach Mike Zuehlke and his family; former player Mike Anderson and parents of former players.
Dolan, who was introduced by Tom Critchley from the MBCA, gave a very moving speech about how much coaching and basketball has meant to him.
Grew up in Renville
A 1974 graduate of Renville High School, Dolan was a stand-out athlete in football, basketball and baseball.
As a high school basketball player, he belongs to the 1,000 point club, played in two Minnesota state tournaments and was a Star Tribune all-state selection.
Dolan graduated from Bemidji State University, where he also played basketball. He was offered three teaching jobs, in Alexandria, Forest Lake and Mentor, Minnesota.
Since Alexandria and Forest Lake did not have any open coaching positions, Dolan chose Mentor High School where he became the head basketball coach.
When he interviewed for the Mentor job, Dolan asked the former basketball coach how he enjoyed coaching there.
"I consider myself to be a .500 coach," the former coach said.
"Oh, that is not so bad," Dolan said.
"Yep, I have been coaching four years. Two years I won one and two years I didn’t."
In his three years at Mentor, Dolan’s basketball teams went 6-12, 12-6 and 18-2.
In 1981, Dolan and his wife Cathy accepted elementary teaching positions at Annandale.
In his 39 years of coaching in Mentor and Annandale, Dolan’s accomplishments include:
■ A basketball career record of 330-193.
■ Winning Wright County Conference titles in four different sports.
■ Winning 10 Wright County Conference basketball championships and making six state tournament appearances.
■ In 2014 being selected as the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association Class 2A Coach of the Year. Dolan has won the Section 5-2A Coach of the Year five times.
In addition to basketball, Dolan has coached softball for 27 years, where his teams have won multiple conference titles and made four trips to state.
The Advocate contacted former players to get an idea what it was like to play for Dolan, and we received the following comments:
Jessica (Otto) Magrum
Jessica (Otto) Magrum played point guard for Dolan from 1985 to 1989. She said her top three male role models in her life are Jesus, her father Jim Otto and Dolan.
During those four years at Annandale she played the three-point shot was adopted into girls basketball.
"Coach Dolan saw that as a huge opportunity for us and immediately had us practicing our three-pointers," Magrum said. "Thanks to his coaching and his confidence in us as players and persons, we had an undefeated regular season and made it to the district finals two years in a row.
"Even after 30 years of coaching he still teaches the values he instilled in us girls: hard work, determination, fair play, honesty, and respect."
Magrum said that Dolan truly was a father figure to many of his players.
"When my two sons were young, I would often tell them about Coach Dolan and the impact that he had on my life," she said. "I am now fortunate to have both my boys coached by Coach Dolan."
Dan Seaberg
Annandale’s Dan Seaberg, Class of 1992, had Dolan as an assistant basketball coach under Ron Starke. Dolan also coached Seaberg’s fifth grade team. Seaberg credited the coach’s lonngevity and success to these things.
"He has a remarkable acumen for the game of basketball, including both the physical and psychological demands it offers. He has the important ability to assess the talent of his players and to translate his knowledge into a system easily understood and adopted by his team.
"Skip’s passion as a coach begins with success on the court, but extends far beyond as he helps his players understand what it means to be successful and honorable young adults."
Seaberg has fond memories of Dolan as a coach, specifically "from calming me down when I disagreed with a ref, to explaining a better option when I made a boneheaded play, to having a long conversation in the cold, dim parking lot after a tough loss."
As a player. Seabergs thought Dolan’s efforts would lead to success on the court.
"But as I grow older and reflect on these memories, I realize that Skip was doing more than making the team better," Seaberg said. "He was laying the groundwork for his players to find success in life and become better connected to society."
Kirk Walberg
Kirk Walberg, a 1998 AHS graduate, played basketball for Dolan and feels he was a great coach for many reasons.
"Skip would get to know what type of person and player you were and then be able to push the right buttons," Walberg said. "He got you to play hard and believe in what he asked you to do. On the court he knew what to say to the team to get us to the next level.
"While he was "the coach" on the basketball court, off the court Skip was light hearted, caring and personable," Walberg said. "It was an honor to be a player under Skip’s guidance and nobody deserves to be inducted into the Coaches Hall of Fame more than Skip."
Matt Miller
Matt Miller, a 2014 AHS graduate, played varsity basketball his freshman through senior years under Coach Dolan.
"Coach Dolan had such a positive influence on all those around him," Miller said. "Being that we were all impressionable teenagers, Dolan made sure we had the correct mindset right from the beginning.
"His players were not allowed to wear armbands, headbands or anything that resembled showboating. Your hair was to be of an appropriate length, and facial hair had to be shaved before game day."
Growing up, Miller considered Dolan a role model.
"Coach Dolan advocated for things to be done the right way every time, whether that be in a game or in life itself." Miller said. "He is the epitome of a role model, and we were fortunate to have him as a coach growing up."
Coach John Carlson
John Carlson is the recently retired Litchfield High School basketball coach and 2015 inductee into the Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.
"Skip is a very passionate basketball coach that has a philosophy that is near and dear to him. People think of Annandale teams coached by Skip as offensive orientated. He loves the three-ball and knows how to get good shots by the right players.
"He teaches shooting very well and instills great confidence in his players to be great shooters.
"His teams always played great defense but recently they have stepped it up even more."
Carlson remembers a Cardinals-Dragons game from a few years ago.
"The game was a normal Litchfield-Annandale game played with high intensity and great emotion," Carlson said. "Annandale won the game, and when I was calling in statistics on the way home, I realized that Annandale beat us without ever making a 2-point shot. They made only threes and free thows. I had never even heard of that happening, but only in Annandale."
Carlson played college basketball at SCSU and would play Dolan while he was playing at Bemidji State.
"One of Skip’s teammates at BSU was a great player named Frank Kopetka and rumor has it that Frank and Skip were roommates," Carlson said. "Well, while Litchfield and Annandale both played in the Wright County Conference, who would show up to officiate but Kopetka.
"I don’t recall any calls that seemed like ‘homer’ calls but I still kidded Skip about having his roommate officiate our game."
Carlson called Dolan a Hall of Fame person.
"He has amazing passion for the game of basketball but even more for each young man he has coached," the former Litchfield coach said. "He loves his players and fights very hard for them. His love for Annandale is unmatched."