In July, the Minnesota high school basketball community lost two of its veteran coaches when long-time Red Wing boys basketball coach Dick Beetsch passed away July 17 at the age of 87 and Ken Novak Sr. died on July 28 at the age of 92.
Beetsch, a three sport athlete who graduated from the University of Northern Iowa, began his coaching career in Long Prairie before he moved on to Kasson and Windom. In 1966, he led the Eagles to the state tournament but they didn't bring home the championship hardware as the start of the Edina Hornets dominance began with the first of three consecutive state titles.
The following season, Beetsch took over the head coaching job at Red Wing, where he would be on the Winger sidelines for over 30 years. Four years after heading down Highway 61, he led Red Wing to their first state tournament since 1957. The first year of a two class tournament almost brought home gold medals for the Wingers, but they would lose in the Class A final to the Melrose Dutchmen.
Beetsch would bring the purple and white clad Wingers back to Williams Arena in 1972. They would advance to the semifinals with a win over the Proctor Rails and lost to the eventual Class A champion St. James Saints. Red wing would lose to Howard Lake in the third place game.
After he retired from coaching, Beetsch stayed active in athletics officiating football and umpiring baseball and softball.
Novak's career took a different path. He played at St. Cloud State from 1947-51 and became the first Husky to score 1000 career points. After a stint in the US Army, Novak would return to his alma mater to become the head coach but in 1957, he would replace Butsie Maetzold as the head coach at Hopkins. He would survive the district's split into two high schools in 1970 when he took the head coaching reigns at Lindbergh (now Hopkins High School). Novak would lead the Flyers to the 1974 Class AA state tournament, the first played at the St. Paul Civic Center. But the Flyers didn't fly back to Hopkins with the state title trophy. The Bemidji Lumberjacks, led by Jimmy Jenson would win the Class AA title.
Novak's first stint in Hopkins would end in 1982 when Eisenhower shut down, reducing the district to one high school. But he would still teach at Hopkins and assist his son Ken Novak Jr when he was coaching at Blaine. The Bengals would advance to the 1987 Class AA final, losing to the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars.
The Novaks would team up again at Hopkins, building a powerhouse that has produced eight state championships. In addition, Novak Sr. was also the head girls tennis coach at Hopkins for 15 years, leading the Royals to the 1994 Class AA state title.
Beetsch and Novak Sr. Two members of the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame. May they rest in peace.
