The celebration of 100 years of state basketball tournaments continues with the announcement of the top coaches in the history of the girls' state tourney. As with last week's announcement of the top boys' state tournament coaches, these lists have been compiled with the assistance of a committee of basketball historians and experts from around Minnesota.
In the coming weeks, similar listings of the top teams, best shots, best games and best finishes in state tournament history will be announced. These announcements and other activities related to 100 years of state tourneys will lead into this year's tournaments — the girls will play at Williams Arena and Target Center March 14-17 and the boys will do the same March 21-24.
TOP FIVE GIRLS' BASKETBALL COACHES
 | Jerry Cool – Little Falls
State appearances: 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1991
State championships: 1980, 1984, 1985
Cool guided the Flyers for 24 years, leading them to 10 Central Lakes Conference championships in that time. He retired after the 1998-99 season with a career record of 367-169. He was named to the Minnesota Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1993. Cool came to Little Falls via West Virginia and North Dakota. The native of Mule Creek, W. Va., played on a state runner-up basketball team in 1952, played for Potomac State College in West Virginia before transferring to the University of North Dakota. His first coaching job was in 1961 as a graduate assistant at North Dakota and he later coached boys' basketball in Luverne, N.D., for two seasons and at Brooten, Minn., for three years before going to Little Falls in 1975. |
Terry Culhane – Milroy, Tracy-Milroy, Marshall
State appearances: Milroy 1985; Tracy/Milroy 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997; Marshall 2000, 2001, 2002
State championships: 1992, 1996, 2001, 2002
Culhane, a Hall of Fame coach in basketball as well as volleyball, compiled a career basketball coaching record of 425-85. On the volleyball court, his career record was 519-112 in 22 seasons at Milroy, Tracy-Milroy and Marshall, including 15 state tournament appearances and six state championships. Since 2004 he has been the head volleyball coach at his alma mater, Southwest Minnesota State University. Culhane graduated from Marshall High School in 1974, started his coaching career at Milroy High School in 1979, took over the Tracy-Milroy program in 1986 and moved to Marshall High School in 1997. He was named Minnesota Class AAA Coach of the Year in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
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 | Mike Dreier – New London-Spicer
State appearances: 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009
State championships: 1997, 2002
Dreier has accumulated more victories than any girls' basketball coach in Minnesota history, beginning the 2011-12 season with a record of 749-129. Half of the teams he has guided to state tournaments have played in championship games, with New London-Spicer finishing as state runner-up five times. The native of Burnsville and graduate of Hamline University began his teaching and coaching career at New London-Spicer right out of college. His first team won only three games, but it didn't take long before the Wildcats became one of the dominant teams in the state, with Dreier stressing fundamentals, hard work and togetherness. |
Myron Glass – Rochester Lourdes
State appearances: 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010
State championships: 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2005
Glass, the girls' basketball coach at Rochester Lourdes since 1983, ranks second in career victories in Minnesota, entering the 2011-12 season with a mark of 687-97. Glass has led the Eagles to seven state championship games and they have won them all. His coaching success did not come after a playing career because Glass did not play basketball in high school or college. He was cut from the basketball team at Minneapolis South High School and worked his way through St. Cloud State University as a non-athlete who worked at a gas station on weekends. He is known as a coach who keys on preparation, with extensive scouting reports on every opposing team, coach and player. |  |
 | Faith Johnson Patterson – Minneapolis North, DeLaSalle
State appearances: Minneapolis North 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009; DeLaSalle 2010, 2011
State championships: 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2011
Johnson Patterson has found great success at two Minneapolis schools, North and DeLaSalle. She began the 2011-12 season with a career record of 360-83. Johnson Patterson was a star player at Minneapolis Marshall-University High School in the late 1970s, played in two of the early state tournaments and was a collegiate player at the University of Wisconsin. Her teams at Minneapolis North played in each of the first nine Class AAA state tournaments and played in eight championship games in that span. Johnson Patterson won state titles in five of her first 10 seasons at North. Her 12 trips to the state tournament rank third all-time behind Glass (15) and Dreier (14). Johnson Patterson had a record of 302-78 in 14 years at Minneapolis North before moving to DeLaSalle prior to the 2009-10 season. She led her first Islanders team to a third-place finish in Class AAA, and last season DeLaSalle won the championship. |
OTHER NOTABLE COACHES (Years designate first and latest state appearance)
Andy Berkvam, Lakeville/Lakeville North, 1999-2011
Eight state appearances, three championships
Ray Finley, Blake, Breck, Providence Academy, 1994-2011
Eight state appearances, three championships
Terry Hunst, Bloomington Jefferson, 1993-2003
Six state appearances, three championships
Willie Taylor, Mounds View, St. Paul Central, 1994-2008
Six state appearances, two championships
Brian Cosgriff, Hopkins, 2002-2011
Six state appearances, three championships
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Other "Bests"
Girls:
Top Coaches
Top Players
Top Teams
Top Shots
Top Finishes
Top Games
Boys:
Top Coaches
Top Players
Top Teams
Top Shots
Top Finishes
Top Games
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