History of the Organization |
Established in 1988 |
| Prior to 1988, there was no organized spring and summer basketball in Minnesota. Then in the summer of 1988, Minnesota Magic founder John Sherman helped to organized the first AAU teams in the state. He was appointed State AAU Boys' Basketball chairman by Dan Klinkhammer and Perry Coonce of the Minnesota Sports Federation in 1989 and served in that capacity for five years. |
Minnesota's First AAU National Title |
| The growth of Minnesota AAU basketball was slow at first with only about 50 boys participating the first year. As the program grew, Minnesota teams joined the mainstream of national competition. In 1989, Minnesota won its first AAU National title with a team from the Magic organization. The team was called the "Minnesota Wolves" in honor of the NBA Timberwolves coming to our state. John Sherman, John Barth and Greg Koch were coaches of the national champions with John Barth, an Elk River High School teacher, taking the lead role as head coach. Players on that championship team included future NCAA Division I players Rob Mestas (Miami of Ohio) and John Bryant (Wisconsin). |
The Early Years |
| In the early years of AAU, Minnesota Magic trained a string of Mr. Basketball of Minnesota winners that included Skipp Schaefbauer (Elk River), Rob Mestas (Minneapolis Roosevelt), Khalid El-Amin (Minneapolis North), Mitch Ohnstad (Faribault), Brett Yonke (Eagan) and Nick Horvath (Mounds View). |
The Growth Spurt in 1999 |
| The Magic Basketball Club hit its biggest growth spurt in 1999 when the number of teams in the program doubled. With Magic leading the way, Minnesota became the national leader in AAU boys' basketball with more teams and players than any other association in the country. Minnesota was named an All-American AAU Association in 1991. Since 1988, Minnesota Magic has won 17 national championships in the AAU, BCI, YBOA, NYBC and Mid-America Youth Basketball programs. |
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© Minnesota Magic Basketball 2008