When Nationals Was Newby Duane Beeson

NWC ARCHIVES

Members of the 1970-71 Red Raider men’s basketball squad celebrate a victory over Wartburg in the NAIA District 15 championship game, which earned them a trip to the national tournament for the first time in school history.

Eight team national championship banners hang in the Bultman Center today, but four decades ago, competing at the national level wasn’t an expectation for the Red Raiders. The men’s basketball team in 1970–71 helped changed that.

Don Jacobsen became Northwestern’s head coach a year earlier, and his reputation preceded him. He held the South Dakota high school scoring record with 2,825 points, a mark that stood for 50 years. And at South Dakota State, he was an All-American who averaged 20 points per game.

“He outworked everybody to be the player he was,” says Dave Aalbers ’73, “so he was pretty hard on us.” The Raiders completed a lot of running drills in practice—and even did some in Midland Lutheran’s gym following a disappointing one-point loss.

In games, the Raiders “were a bunch of greyhounds,” says Jim Woudstra ’74, entertaining the crowds with their fast-paced play. The team averaged 92 points, with the starting five contributing more than 80.

“We outran everybody,” says Aalbers. “We knew going into halftime that the other team was whipped. Jake had us in shape, and it paid dividends big-time.”

Coming off a 10-12 season in Jacobsen’s first year, the 1970–71 Red Raiders went 11-1 in the Tri-State Conference. The team won the last 10 games of the regular season and took two victories in the NAIA District 15 playoffs to qualify for the national tournament for the first time in school history.

Northwestern canceled classes for two days so students, faculty and staff could attend nationals in Kansas City. The Raiders had an estimated 1,000 fans on hand as they faced the Jackson State Tigers from Mississippi, a team with four starters as tall or taller than Northwestern’s big man, 6-foot-6-inch Woudstra.

The scrappy Raiders boxed out aggressively, ran the floor and led at halftime, 48-45. The game was tied at 78 with five minutes left, but Jackson State prevailed, 96-91.

Ending the year at 28-5, the Raiders set 16 team and individual records.

Looking back, team members say their squad had a special chemistry. “Everybody knew what they needed to do and trusted everyone else,” says Dr. Jerry Van Es ’71.

Certainly much of the credit for the team’s success goes to Coach Jacobsen. “He treated each player in the way that helped motivate him,” says Woudstra, himself a longtime coach.

In nine seasons at NWC, Jake coached teams that compiled a 159-79 record and qualified for the national tournament twice. Now retired and living in Sioux City, he left a legacy that still lives on at Northwestern.

Fans of the national-champion women’s basketball program have seen the team use an in-bounds play designed by Jacobsen. Coach Earl Woudstra ’78, who played and coached under Jacobsen, calls it “the Jake.”