Newly crowned winningest Minnesota high school basketball coach has a backstory just as amazing

NEW LONDON, Minn. — On Dec. 9, 2022, Mike Dreier recorded his 1,013th victory as coach of the New London-Spicer women basketball crew. With the win, Dreier handed the late Bob McDonald of Chisholm as the winningest high school basketball coach in Minnesota historical past.

Yet misplaced within the stats is a story just as unbelievable. This story initially aired on KARE 11 on March 8, 2021.

The varsity women basketball crew at New London-Spicer High School has an abundance of Riches.

Four of them, to be actual.

Senior Mackenzie Rich was the primary to affix the crew. Junior Courtney Rich, Sophomore Avery Rich and eighth grader Dakota Rich all fell in behind.

That’s 4 Rich sisters on an undefeated Class 2A varsity crew ranked No. 1 within the state. 

It made for a proud dad second earlier this season, when, for the primary time, all 4 of Earl Rich’s daughters have been on the court docket on the identical time.

“It was a special moment, that’s for sure,” Earl says.

Special for multiple motive.

Mike Dreier is the women’ coach. Now in his forty third season with New London-Spicer, Mike is the winningest women basketball coach in Minnesota high school historical past.

The motive he’s nonetheless teaching, Mike says, is essentially due to Earl.

“I suppose it was like six or eight years ago,” Mike says, that Earl got here to him.

“You gotta keep coaching, you’ve got to coach my kids,” the 69-year-old coach remembers Earl saying. “I just said, ‘I can’t. I don’t think I’ll be hanging on that long, Earl.’”

But Earl continued, explaining to his daughters “if there’s any coach I want you to play for, it would be him.”

Earl’s insistence was rooted in 45 years of his private historical past, a decade of which was spent in foster houses.

Earl remembers being in second grade when an sickness left his mom too sick to look after him.

When his fifth foster household determined to offer him up, Earl says he was devastated.

Word will get round in a small city and shortly it unfold to Earl’s seventh grade soccer coach, Mike Dreier.

“I was in the lunchroom one day,” he remembers, “and the music teacher was saying, ‘Aww, Earl’s gonna have to move to Willmar.’ Listened to him and I said, ‘Well he can come live with me.’”

Moving in with the – on the time – single coach of his seventh grade soccer crew was the very last thing Earl anticipated.

“I’m like, Mike Dreier?” he remembers himself asking.

But the paperwork was accomplished, and Mike turned Earl’s foster mum or dad via his sophomore, junior and senior 12 months.

“I never spent three years at one place,” Earl says. “He just gave me every aspect of a dad that I never had.”

Mike supplied Earl with self-discipline and love, TV dinners and journeys to the gymnasium for exercises.   

“Oh man,” Earl says, wiping away a tear. “It’s hard to talk about sometimes.”

Earl’s daughters have grown up conscious of their coach’s affect on their dad.

“I’d say he definitely turned out alright for having such a tough life when he was younger, and I think Dreier definitely played a big part in that,” Mackenzie says.

Earl went on to Southwest State University, the place he performed quarterback for the soccer crew and pitched for the baseball crew.

Then, he retuned to his hometown and have become half proprietor New London Real Estate and WestRich RV Park and Campground in Spicer, the place his daughters spend their summers working towards basketball on a court docket he had constructed for them.

“He’s done really well,” Mike says proudly.

On a current sport evening, Mike and Earl sat throughout the court docket from one another, whereas between them, all 4 women took the court docket once more for a couple minutes of enjoying time collectively.  

Both males acknowledge the distinctiveness of those moments.

“I just hope I have been a small part of some positives in his life,” the coach says.

“Small” is the one phrase in that sentence, Earl would dispute.

“I’m glad he stuck it out for the girls,” he says.