My friend and Hamline University basketball teammate, Dave Thorson, is arguably the most successful Minnesota high school basketball coach in history. The teams he coached at De La Salle High School won 6 straight 3A State Championships between 2011 and 2017 and 9 overall in his 23 years of coaching at De La Salle before he took on the challenge of college coaching. He is now the lead assistant men's basketball coach at the University of Minnesota.
However, he will tell you that this success had little to do with him.
Such sentiment was noted in a farewell note De La Salle posted when Dave decided to begin his college coaching journey. It was always about the players, the school and the culture.
Nowhere is Dave's belief that the team is all about the players more simply demonstrated than in their team photos.
Dave doesn't have him or the coaches in the team photo. The main focus of De La Salle teams are the players. It's about them. Dave got that belief from our coach, Tim Mieure, which is demonstrated in our team photo back in 1988-89 which is the feature photo. (Dave is # 40 and I am #34)
Leaders like Dave tirelessly work to untap the potential of individuals and the team. When the team can become their best, individually and collectively, success occurs.
Lastly, Dave will not say that the State Championships are his measure of success. That the players he's coached have become quality men that embody what it means to be an Islander on an off the court are a better measure of success for him than any trophy.
Are you a leader that puts your 'players' at the center of it all or are you out front?
p.s. In the Hamline photo above, there are two high school basketball coaches, two college assistant coaches and at least 6 who have coached in youth basketball programs developing young men and women to be future leaders. I'm really proud to be a part of this group.
