South Dakota BB Coach Dave Boots Always Focuses on Moving Forward

 I wrote the following blog about Dave Boots last May and it was printed in the RedEye publication by Print Source of Vermillion. With Coach Dave Boots of the University of South Dakota hitting 500 wins at USD and over 600 as an NCAA coach on Jan. 5, 2013, I thought readers might find this piece of interest. The information has been updated including records, etc.

The charismatic baseball pitcher Satchel Paige once said: “Don’t look back, something might be gaining on you.”

It is a perspective, perhaps, of which University of South Dakota head men’s basketball coach Dave Boots can relate. During his 25-year coaching tenure, Boots has never looked back. Since the day he was named the USD’s 15^th head basketball coach 25 years ago, Boots has moved forward.

He hasn’t been concerned about leaving a legacy, despite putting together an incredible streak of 23 consecutive winning seasons, which ended in 2011-12 (11-18 season). In developing the Coyote program, he has always kept his focus straight ahead.

“We don’t look back. The most important day is today or tomorrow,” he said. “We are trying to build something that people will enjoy - something (program) that the USD community will be proud of.”  

Boots has directed a Coyote program, once mired in losing, to its most successful period in school history. He has compiled the most wins in school history, 500-225, or a winning percentage of .690. Overall, he is 615-288, with a winning percentage of .681. He picked up his career 500th win at USD and his 600th NCAA win in a 74-71 win over South Dakota State on Jan. 5, 2013 at the DakotaDome. 

When he took over the USD men's basketball, the program had an all-time record of 716-786. The program was in the midst of a long losing streak, having not experienced a winning season in 10 years, since going 16-9 in 1978-79. In fact, the Coyote program was in the midst of eight straight years of sub-.500 seasons. Since a 13-13 season in 1979-80, the Coyotes were 70-149 or a winning percentage of just .319. In fact, USD had just four seasons in eight with double digit wins. Now, all those years later, the all-time men’s basketball record has improved to 1,215-1,009 or a .546 winning percentage.  

During his tenure, Boots has led USD to 16 20-win seasons and produced 14 of the 15 best seasons (terms of wins and losses) in school history.  Prior to Boots’ arrival just one team, the 1958 national championship team under Dwane Clodfelter, had won 20 games (22-5).

Boots’ Coyotes has made two Elite Eight appearances (1992-93, 1993-94), won seven conference titles and earned 10 NCAA DII playoff appearances (five straight from 2003-08), the school’s first NCAA postseason game (CollegeInsiders.com Tournament). USD has recorded wins over Division I teams Wyoming, Morehead State and Loyola Maramount as well as had various other close calls vs. NCAA tournament teams. Named a conference coach of the year seven times, Boots has had 22 players earn Academic All Conference honors, 39 named all-league, and three selected All-American, including one (Turner Troholz) DII National Player of the Year.

Through his time on the Vermillion campus, Boots worked day-by-day, practice-by-practice to try and incorporate what was needed for the program to grow. In his first season, the Coyotes produced a 17-15 record and a gaggle of winning seasons followed. 

Now the coach is in the process of developing a winner at the Division I level.  

“It is going to take us a little longer to get to some of the things we need to do at this level,” noted Boots. “It isn't something you can just turn around and do. It takes you time to get your program up where it can be a competitive DI program.”

Attaining success, says Boots, requires buy-in by everyone involved in the program, from the coaching staff to the players. They have to be passionate and dedicated.

“I have had incredibly good assistant coaches, like Joey James and Chris Kassin now, and all the way through,” he said. “I have been very fortunate that some of them played for me. That is one of the most enjoyable things I have had here, to watch guys play here, become coaches for us and then move on,” said Boots, noting that in 24 years, he has had 25 assistants or players move on to make their own way in coaching.

“It is really pleasing that they are part of us and remain part of us. The coaches in the NBA D League All Star Game this year (2011-12) were Nate Tibbetts and Nick Nurse, a former player and former assistant. They are both great guys who have great futures. To see Shane Murphy, John Hemenway and others do what they are doing is special. To see (former player) Ben Ries do what he is doing at Norfolk is tremendously pleasing. You see them grow, have families and become good fathers.”

He is appreciative of dedicated student-athletes who have come in and made a commitment on and off the court. “Even as we move up, we still believe we need to get some of those same type of kids we have been getting  – their character, their desire to get a degree, go to class, be good citizen, all that. That always has to be the main focus.”

Boots’ perspective on thinking for today and tomorrow and not yesterday continues to provide the program with positive direction. Yet, every day brings a fresh challenge. 

“We have certainly had our bumps in the road during this transition and it is going to get tougher than it has been as we proceed in the Summit League.  There is a lot left to be done. We do not kid ourselves. Believe me. We know what has to be done, how much work it is going to take, how much luck we are going to have to have in it, patience. There are no quick fixes,” he said.

While he hones in on what lies ahead, Coach Boots also knows his USD tenure has included many special moments and many more await time and circumstance.

One of the early moments recalled by Boots was South Dakota’s win over North Dakota in the NCC Postseason Tournament at Sioux Falls in the 1989-90 season. The Coyotes, who finished 22-10 and earned its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1971-72, upended a North Dakota team ranked #1 in the country in the tournament semifinals, 75-73.  

“That was just our second year here,” recalled Boots. “We had Mike Graves, Tim Hatchett and Sam Goodhope.”

USD trailed 41-35 at halftime but rallied to tie the game at 64-64 with 6:08 to play. With seven seconds left, USD’s Brad Fifield hit a game-tying jump shot to force overtime. Then, Hatchett, who along with Goodhope, both scored 20 points, hit a jumper to provide USD with its first lead of the game. Later in OT, Fifield hit a short jumper with a minute to play to break the tie as USD advanced.     

The next night USD defeated Mankato State, 69-59, to win the tourney title and earn an NCAA berth.  “We were trying to establish our program – early in that stage -- and that (UND game) was a really big win for us,” said Boots.

Another significant victory was USD’s 66-64 regional final conquest of UND in 1992-93. Despite winning the league, USD was forced to go on the road.

“The game went back and forth and once again we had a really good team with Chris Jones, (Randy) Rosenquist and (Troy) Terronez, (Shane) Murphy, Mark Andres, John Brenegan, and Mike Kloth. Somehow we got that game into overtime and won it with a basket by Rosenquist with five or six seconds to go,” said Boots, whose team finished 25-5 and 16-2 in the NCC.

In the game, USD led, 41-35, before UND had a 22-11 run that produced a 57-52 lead. With 1:26 to go, Murphy hit a three-point shot to tie the game. Then Rosenquist hit arguably the biggest shot of his career to send South Dakota to the Elite Eight for the first time.

Another game that sticks with Boots is the 100-96 triple-overtime loss to New Hampshire in the first round of the Elite Eight that same season. “It was a game we thought we had in hand or were in position to win,” said Boots, noting that USD led by four with a minute to go and had possession of the ball. “We didn’t make some plays that we need to make, like not getting a stop when we needed to,” said Boots. “That one is always going to be with us.”

Another important game was the 61-58 verdict over North Dakota State in the 1993-94 regional final at the DakotaDome. It was the first time USD had hosted a regional final at the Dome. NDSU had beaten USD, 82-63, late in the season, which forced USD to defeat North Dakota (80-71) the next night to win the conference title outright for the second straight season. The Coyotes, which finished 24-5, were dominating the league until losing star forward Chris Jones to injury with 10 games left in the season. Jones was hurt during pre-game warm-ups prior to an 88-81 win over SDSU in Brookings. Following that game, USD scored 100 points in four consecutive wins. However, the loss of Jones was a big blow.  

“He was a big loss for us because he was certainly a talented player, our leading scorer, someone in the lineup who made everyone better. So, we were a little shorthanded to finish that year,” said Boots. “Those kids really rose to the occasion and won the league and the regional,” he said.

While USD did not win a national title during that unforgettable two-season run, the team had an overall record of 49-11, including a dominating 31-5 mark in NCC play.

Boots also remembers USD’s heart-breaking 77-76 double overtime loss to UND in the Great West Conference Tournament finals last March. USD, which finished 18-15 on the season, had an up and down season but had upset the top-seeded Utah Valley State to get into position for its second straight league title. Then they fell behind UND late and rallied. “We made some good tough plays to get it into overtime and then we couldn’t convert simple plays which ended up costing us dearly,” said Boots.  

“I can’t remember them all,” said Boots of all the memorable games and moments his teams experienced while he has directed the basketball ship. “We had a lot of great games with SDSU and others,” he said.

Two victories that will surely stick with Boots are the home wins over a favored SDSU team in 2011-12 (72-68) and 2012-13 (74-71). In both games against SDSU, which made the NCAA DI Tourney a year ago and favored to win the Summit League in 2012-13, the Coyotes built a big lead and fought off a charge from the Jacks and their All-American Nate Wolters. The Coyotes made plays down the stretch, exhibiting unrelenting energy and heart. "He (Wolters) is a great player and that is a great team. I am really proud of my team," he said after the most recent victory on Jan. 5. Boots is 21-18 all-time vs. SDSU, incluidng a 13-6 mark at the DakotaDome.

Obviously, Boots, who has coached 725 games at the U, can’t recall details of every big game, although some plays forever stay imprinted in the memory bank. One such play involved Luke Tibbetts and Josh Mueller in a dramatic 79-78 win over North Dakota at the DakotaDome in the 2002-03 season. In a tight contest, UND hit a shot with just four-tenths of a second to play.

“Down two, Luke ran across the baseline threw back across his body all the way to the opposite corner to Josh. We set up a back screen for him (Mueller) and he caught it, and as he is turning, threw it up and it went in,” said Boots. “There were a lot of people who had already left the game and I am not sure everyone in attendance that night saw the play.”

According to Boots, those games and moments are really what comprise tradition.

“Games are part of their (players) lives,” he said. “Even though this (playing at USD) is a short part of their life, it is something that shapes them. I look at tradition that way a lot more than accomplishments (wins and losses),” he said.

“Some of those games stay with those kids a long time. I know they stay with coaches a long time. It shapes them a little bit; it helps them deal with some of the tough times they might have down the road. Not everything goes your way, so you have to be able to deal with the tough times as well and survive them; learn from them,” said Boots.