FULL CHAT: Mike Begeman, SD Sports Hall of Fame basketball player and coach

FULL CHAT: Mike Begeman, SD Sports Hall of Fame basketball player and coach

It is difficult to find a more beloved sports figure in South Dakota than Mike Begeman. But being a gregarious and gracious good guy is not what earned the Parker native an upcoming spot in the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame. Begeman scored 1,477 points, was a three-time All-State shooting guard, and won 70 games (to just 10 losses) in three seasons for legendary coach Gayle Hoover in Parker in the early 1970's. At Augustana, Begeman was part of a 1978 squad that captured the North Central Conference title. Begeman was far from done winning. He immediately became a high school head coach in Colman, then secured a dream job at West Central in Hartford, close to his family farm. He did well enough there to achieve another dream: Coaching at the highest level in Class AA. O'Gorman may seem like a plum gig now, but in 1986, the Knights had gone almost 20 years without reaching the state tournament. So, how did Begeman jump start the small Sioux Falls private school back to a tourney team in just his second season? By the 1990's, the Knights were a fixture in the event, reaching the championship game four times from 1992-2005. This included each of Begeman's final two seasons at O'G, with son Mitch at point guard. And, then, poof, it was over. Begeman called it quits before age 50, choosing to accept a "private sector" job that allowed him to attend plenty of Mitch's games at USD—something being a prep bench boss would not allow. And Begeman never returned to the bench, spending over 15 years as a public relations manager, then vice president at Sanford Health. Did he miss leading young men on the hardwood? Did he have any regrets about switching gears? With a 329-212 record over 26 seasons as coach and 399-222 mark when factoring in his Parker playing days, the only coaching feat Begeman did not reach was hoisting the state title trophy. So, what did it mean to Begeman when Mitch led Sioux Falls Roosevelt to wins over O'Gorman and Begeman's replacement, Derek Robey in back-to-back seasons of 2021 and '22? Now over four years retired from Sanford, Begeman still spends time in leadership roles and recently won a landslide election to be a Minnehaha County precinct committeeman. Begeman sits down with the Happy Hour host for almost 80 minutes for a look back at a basketball life well lived... and one that's still going strong.

Mike Begeman, part 2: Augie, the coaching years & a career change

The Parker High School star was part of a 1978 NCC title team with Augustana, then jumped straight into head coaching at the varsity high school level— Colman, West Central, and O'Gorman. Hear about the revival of the Knights program, some epic state championship games, and the emotion of watching son Mitch lead Roosevelt to two state titles. Why did Mike hang it up before age 50, and why does he have no regrets about it? Begeman is going into the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame this September.

Mike Begeman, part 1: Retirement & The Parker Years

The former O'Gorman, West Central, and Colman coach who became a Sanford Health executive describes what retirement has been like and takes us back to his formative years on the farm near Parker and playing for prep legend Gayle Hoover.

SD Sports Lounge: Mike McFeely, USC coach Eric Musselman (on NIL payroll & USD transfer Isaac Bruns), Craig Mattick (SDPB prep sports), Zach Borg on Sioux Falls' NCAAA men's tourney bids

It's a small basketball world after all. At least in South Dakota. If you were wondering whether there was a local tie to USD and Summit League leading scorer Isaac Bruns' transfer portal landing spot at USC, you were correct. Well, kind of. South Dakotans know the name Eric Musselman well. The third-year Trojan head coach is the son of former Golden Gopher coach and the first-ever Minnesota Timberwolves coach Bill Musselman. He was in his 20's when the Thrillers and Sioux Falls Skyforce waged a heated in-state rivalry. In the 30 years since, he has stalked the sidelines in the CBA, USBL, and NBA—where he led both the Warriors and the Kings — the NBA D-League and G-League and, for the last 14 years, the college game. He took Nevada to its first Sweet 16 and Arkansas to its first Elite Eight since the Nolan Richardson glory years— and famously took his shirt of and twirling it around on-camera along the way. In part of his entertaining, engaging chat on Sioux Falls Live's "Happy Hour with John Gaskins," Musselman explains exactly how Isaac Bruns ended up in Los Angeles and what Bruns must do to see significant playing time at USC. Plus, how has Musselman's experience as a professional coach honed his ability to deal with NIL roster payroll? And just how does the construction of a roster in the NIL era work? The segments leads off this week's South Dakota Sports Lounge, a weekly digital TV show for Midwest Sports+ that takes hand-picked best segments from Forum Communications shows like Happy Hour, Hot Mic with Dom Izzo (Fargo), and the Nate Brown Show (Rapid City)— all which can be found and viewed on your TV (or any device) with the MS+ app. Other segments this week: Hot Mic w/ Dom Izzo (Fargo): Dom had Mike McFeely on for his weekly segment. They start by discussing the NBA Finals. Mike takes umbrage with NY Knicks fans complaining about officiating. Then, they discuss the national reaction to the Brendan Sorsby decision at Texas Tech. The Nate Brown Show (Rapid City): Craig Mattick, broadcaster for SDPB/ In Play Podcast host, starts his weekly segment by talking about why the South Dakotas state baseball tournament isn't a sanctioned high school varsity sport. Zach Borg feature: An investigative piece looking into the viability of Sioux Falls as a host site for the newly expanded first round of the NCAA basketball tournament.

FULL SHOW: Unpacking BONKERS Knicks' Finals comeback (USF coach Chris Johnson) & re-living GOAT South Dakota basketball games & buzzer beaters (with Trent Singer) on a Thirsty Thursday from Orion Pub

Does our modern culture frequently and recklessly crown the latest thrilling game or epic game-winning play as maybe the best damn greatest of all time? Guilty. But how can the Knicks' 29-point, largest comeback in NBA Finals history — capped by an insanely athletic put back off a missed three-pointer with one second left — not barge right into the conversation, recency bias and all? While Happy Hour is a local sports talk show that prefers to zero in on local sports events and topics, TV ratings show this Finals is the most-watched in almost 30 years, back to the Jordan era. So, yeah, we're going to talk about it— the thrilling, the epic, and the San Antonio Spurs' utter stupidity — on a Thirsty Thursday from the Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls, which was, no doubt, rocking with hysteria down the stretch on Wednesday night. University of Sioux Falls basketball coach Chris Johnson goes straight to the stupidity as Orion Pub co-owner Jon Oppold weighs in. Both men are die-hard Timberwolves fans and Happy Hour Timberwolves Talk podcast hosts, so, yes, there's some analysis of Karl-Anthony Towns' play in the series and a discussion on what (or who) could take the Wolves into the championship round next year. Then, we're going to conjure some of the most thrilling, epic games in Sioux Falls and South Dakota basketball history (preps, college, Skyforce), with submissions from the foremost chroniclers of such events like Stu Whitney, Craig Mattick, Terry Vandrovec, the Happy Hour host, and veteran local sportswriter Trent Singer of Sioux Falls Live. It might just be the best damn greatest local sports talk hour of all time that ever talked about the best damn greatest NBA Finals finish and best damn greatest local basketball finishes of all time. Did we hype this episode a bit too much? Guilty. Or not. Check it out and decide for yourself.