From 1969 to 1972, Larry Luitjens experienced the ups and downs of coaching high school basketball. 

At De Smet High School, he guided the Bulldogs to a state runner-up finish in 1969, followed by state championships in ‘70 and ‘71. 

The up-and-coming coach was at the top of his game, but nearly quit coaching basketball after the following season. Luitjens was hired by a priest who ran St. Mary’s High School in New England, North Dakota. 

St. Mary’s went 19-4, but the priest wasn’t happy with the style of play and demanded changes throughout the season. The priest had state title aspirations and they fell short of those expectations. 

And Luitjens was out. 

“We got upset in the district finals on Saturday night,” Luitjens said in a 2002 newspaper interview. “And I was fired Monday morning.”

Luitjens headed home to work on the family farm in Britton and that’s when he questioned his coaching future. 

“I am investigating some opportunities outside education,” Luitjens said at the time. “But my first love is coaching and if the right position is there, that is where I’ll go.”

The right position came knocking, and a legendary coaching career was back on track. After serving as an assistant coach under Britton’s John Bruce for one season, Luitjens landed the Custer High School head boys basketball position in 1973. 

The rest is South Dakota basketball history. Luitjens, who died on June 10 at the age of 81, became synonymous with the Custer Wildcats and he turned the program into a basketball powerhouse. Before his arrival, Custer qualified for just three state tournaments. 

Under Luitjens, the Wildcats qualified for 14 state tournaments and won five state titles. In a 16-year stretch from 1988-2003, the Wildcats reached the state Class A tourney 10 times, finishing first five times (1990, '92, '93, '98 and '02) and second three ('89, '91 and '03). 

He retired in 2014 as the state’s winningest boys basketball coach with a 748-305 record. He coached numerous all-staters and two Mr. Basketball winners — his son Lance (1992) and Paige Paulsen (2003).

Luitjens coached in two of the state’s most memorable championship games. In 1969, De Smet lost to Onida in the Class B state championship game, 93-90. It is still the Class B boys basketball tournament record for most points in any game and widely considered one of the best games in state history. 

Even on the losing end, Luitjens appreciated the magnitude of the thriller.

“It was the most exciting game I’ve ever coached in,” Luitjens said in 1997. “And I’ve coached in lots and lots of games. It was a thrill. We had it on videotape and we must have watched it 25 times, over and over again. Every time I watched it, I would get excited all over again. And every time I watched it, I thought we were going to come back and win it.”

In 1998, Custer clipped cross-state rival Lennox for the Class A state championship, 54-52. The contest was one of six state championship games between the West River and East River powers, with Custer winning four of them.

The 1998 title tilt will be remembered for Derek Paulsen’s heroics. The then-sophomore hit a high-arching runner with 3.2 seconds left, giving Luitjens his sixth state championship in dramatic fashion. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever won one on a last-second shot,” Luitjens said after the game. 

Custer also won seven Lakota Nation Invitational titles under Luitjens and he built a strong relationship with the Native American community. Through the years, Luitjens received blankets, star quilts, jackets, hats and jewelry from Native American friends and competitors.

In 2021, Lance co-authored a book with Larry’s longtime friend and former assistant coach Bob Parsons. 

The 257-page book chronicles Larry’s life along with 47 “team talks” and 47 “bible verses” to match Larry’s 47 years of coaching.

Luitjens passed away at his residence in Sioux Falls on June 10. Memorial Services will be Saturday, Sept. 2 at Custer Armory in Custer.