The mayor has proclaimed Monday to be Oscar Haddorff Day in Austin.

Saturday, November 13, 1999

The mayor has proclaimed Monday to be Oscar Haddorff Day in Austin.

Haddorff was inducted into the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame on Saturday.

The 24-year coach, 37-year teacher, 47-year husband to his Mound High School sweetheart, 13-time high school letter winner, two-year peace-time soldier in Okinawa, Japan, one-time reserve guard on the 1951 Hamline University national championship basketball team, and son of a high school basketball coach – you can bet – has a lot of fond memories.

Among them are the following:

— Haddorff was in his second year as an assistant to Ove Berven when Austin struck gold for the third time at state.

Sophomore Clayton Reed, who played on Haddorff’s B-squad team during the regular season, didn’t miss a varsity minute of playing time come playoff time.

"We couldn’t get him enough playing time at state," said Haddorff.

Austin won its three games at state by a total of eight points.

But Haddorff believes Austin won a big victory before the tournament even started.

At a pre-state banquet, the Austin team – with 6-foot, 7-inch Roger Voss, 6-5 Jerry Peterson and 6-5 Bryan Baudler – was placed on the third and highest dining platform.

"Oh my gosh," Haddorff said. "What kind of impression do you think that left? They looked 7-2. They were huge for their time."

— Haddorff was fresh out of the Army when Berven’s assistant Nat Goudy suffered a heart attack and died.

"We were looking for jobs, employment of any kind," Haddorff said of he and his wife Marian.

Haddorff, already with two years of head coaching experience at St. Charles to his credit, interviewed with Berven, who told him "things look good."

Berven then asked Haddorff what he could teach. Haddorff answered, "physical education."

That wouldn’t cut it. There were no phy-ed openings in the district. Berven asked Haddorff what his college minor was.

"Science," answered Haddorff, who would go on to spend the next five summers taking extra science courses.

After retiring from coaching in 1978, Haddorff continued to teach 10th grade biology for another 13 years.

"Somebody’s mother came up to me one day and told me, ‘I don’t know what kind of coach you were, but my daughter told me you were a really good teacher.’ That meant a lot to me," said Haddorff.

— Wayne LeRud was a senior when Haddorff took the reins of the Austin basketball team in 1964.

Berven, who’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease before he’d even hired Haddorff in 1956, was finally succombing to the symptoms of the disease and couldn’t continue coaching.

For years, "he didn’t want anyone to know," Haddorff said.

LeRud made the transition a favorable one for the new head coach.

LeRud, who would go on to lead the nation in scoring as a junior college player in Austin, scored 30 points a game for Haddorff.

"He was an amazing shooter," Haddorff said. "He could fall on his face and hit a basket."

— Haddorff was one of the five judges who selected Kevin McHale the MVP of the state tournament in 1976 despite the fact that Hibbing lost to Bloomington Jefferson by nine.

"Kevin was outstanding," Haddorff said.