Former West Fargo girls basketball coach Collette Folstad faced many challenges whenever she coached against Greg Amundson.

Not all the hassles involved Xs and Os.

One of the biggest hurdles Folstad faced was convincing her team that it belonged on the floor with the team wearing black and white uniforms.

"Because Greg's teams had always been so successful, I had to convince my players it was possible to beat them," Folstad said. "His primary offense was the press, and I had to make them understand they could get the ball through that press. That press had a lot of teams stymied many times. Kids would freeze, and the game was over half way through. I'd have to tell them it was possible to get through it. We did break the ice a couple times."

Dickinson coach Greg Jung faced Amundson and the Braves several times a season and faced the same challenges as Folstad.

"They were so well coached, you have to prepare your teams to make minimum mistakes,"Jung said. "His teams took advantage of every mistake. That was their calling card. You always talk about patented Mandan runs. For the chance to beat them, you had to eliminate that run."

Class A girls basketball coaches across the state will probably suffer from fewer headaches this winter because Amundson won't be around.

Amundson resigned from his head coaching position and accepted a position at Columbia Heights, Minn., a suburb of the Twin Cities.

Success at the helm

Amundson, who took over the reins of the Mandan program in 1980, leaves as the most successful coach in North Dakota with an overall record of 569-191. His record at Mandan was 508-173.

He has nine state championships to his credit, including a string of six that was snapped this past season.

"His record speaks for itself," former St. Mary's and Bismarck High coach Steve Meier said. "His teams were always intense and prepared all the way through from start to finish.

"I coached against him for 20 years," Meier added. "Ihave the utmost respect for him. To win one state title is a difficult thing. To get six in a row and how many total is phenomenal."

Fargo South coach Craig Flaagan always found it difficult to prepare his team for Mandan's swarming defense. Flaagan often wonders how many more state titles the Bruins could have won if it weren't for Mandan.

"It's hard to play Mandan when you haven't seen a Mandan-type defense before,"Flaagan said. "You can't simulate in practice what the Mandan kids do defensively. It was always a struggle for us. Mandan usually comes out on top when we play them."

Leaving a legacy

Despite facing a difficult challenge, Folstad always found it enjoyable to coach against Amundson.

"Both of us were competitive," Folstad said. "Neither one of us wanted to lose. It was like playing chess against one another. It's a loss to North Dakota and to women's sports. He brought a lot of attention to the sport because of the accomplishments of him and his players, and the way they competed and played the game."

Folstad coached with Amundson several times in the summer for the Lions All-Star games.

"I learned a lot from him, and hopefully he learned a trick or two from me," Folstad said. "I always enjoyed spending time with Greg. He knew a lot of the history of North Dakota basketball, baseball and sports of all sorts. He's leaving a great legacy to the state of North Dakota."

Like Folstad, Flaagan believes there will be a void without Amundson on the sidelines this coming season

"Our state is going to miss him,"Flaagan said. "Iam going to miss him. It will be different not having a Greg Amundson-coached team at state. It's like replacing John Wooden and Red Auerbach. I'm going to miss that. I'm going to miss the competition we've had."