'Minnesota's Most Legendary Basketball Team' says goodbye to gym that made them

EDGERTON, MINN. – The crowd walked on scuffed floorboards and sat in old wooden bleachers as they gathered at Edgerton High School's old gym, a humble brick building where the legendary 1960 state champions were forged.

The nearly 90-year-old gym is scheduled for demolition in early June. And so community members in this small town about 45-minutes northwest of Worthington made one last trip to say their farewells to the place where history was made.

The gymnasium is where the 1960 Edgerton Flying Dutchmen, a team etched into Minnesota sports lore, honed their skills before an improbable state championship run.

It was a true David-and-Goliath saga that saw the tiny school — with a graduating class of 34 — toppling giants, captivating a state and earning them the moniker "Minnesota's Most Legendary Basketball Team."

Members on that team recalled how that squad had undeniable chemistry, born from countless hours shooting and practicing. The old gym was "really very small, but it was our home," Dean Verdoes, a forward on that championship squad, said in a recent email.

Verdoes, now 83, recalled the hours spent at the gym that year practicing under new coach Richie Olson. And then after practice, everyone stayed another hour at the gym to shoot, he said in a phone call.

Verdoes' voice picked up whenever he recalled the state tournament run, an electrifying series to cap an undefeated season. Edgerton faced and defeated much larger schools like Chisholm, Richfield and finally Austin in the championship before a crowd of over 19,000 at Williams Arena.

"I think the whole state got behind us, which is really cool," Verdoes said in a recent interview.

Edgerton's victory resonated with basketball fans in small towns across the state, who were happy to watch the big schools lose for once. Back then, all schools, big and small, competed against each other at the high school basketball tournament, unlike today when schools compete based on enrollment.

The triumphant return to Edgerton was a multitown celebration, with fire trucks and marching bands heralding the conquering heroes.

In the years after that championship, time caught up to the old gym, constructed in 1936-37 for $16,650, according to an article written by local historian Mike Drooger.

After years of discussion, the school board recently finalized the decision to demolish the building. Superintendent Keith Buckridge said the main reason was that the gym was not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, with grandparents and the disabled unable to get in and out of the bleachers. The gym also had a deteriorating and slippery floor and lacked bathrooms, he added.

A new, modern gymnasium will be constructed on the west side of the school, he said. The school plans to look into the possibility of salvaging pieces of the floorboards and bleachers for memorabilia, or perhaps for a mural in the new facility.

Last Saturday, the echoes of past glory mingled with a palpable sense of nostalgia, as community members and former players walked through the gym one last time.

Jake Kooiman, 79, who was in eighth grade during the championship year and later played on the same court, remembered the packed houses at the gym when he played.

"It filled up so quick," Kooiman said. "People would get chairs to sit along right there," he said, pointing to the tight sidelines that had fans practically on the court.

As Kooiman stood in the quiet gym, a single tear fell as he considered the demolition of the gym. Many of the people he played with and who remember the 1960 team are getting older, and some are in poor health, he said.

He added that he hopes to have a piece of the old gym after its demolition, so he can pass it on to his two sons.

"I'm starting to choke up a little bit too because it's — I don't know, I feel so good about this place," Kooiman said. "Some older people like me remember it so well."

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