West Central is back in the state tournament, and it brings back memories of Josh Mueller’s 2001 State A performance.

At Rapid City’s Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, Mueller dazzled crowds with one high-scoring performance after another and lifted West Central to the State A boys basketball championship. Mueller erupted for 147 total points, setting the State A record for most points in a tournament. He also set State A records for most points in a semifinal game (60), most points in a championship game (55) and most made 3-pointers in a tournament (18). 

Mueller’s 2001 masterpiece forever holds a place in South Dakota hoops lore, and people still bring up the iconic performance to him. 

“It’s usually one of the first couple things if they watched it or were in person and then followed by ‘I really didn’t like you at the time,’” Mueller said. “But more times than not I can win them over with my personality outside of my high school playing days or college playing days on the court.”

Twenty-four years later, Mueller said the memorable three-game performance was a reflection of hours in the gym and those around him.

“You don’t get to put up those numbers without the possessions that were earned from our team defense and our team rebounding, and the unselfishness of my teammates to pass up a good shot for me to take a good shot or sometimes a bad shot,” Mueller said. “My name is in the books and people will talk about that record as they do. But anybody who knows the smallest thing about basketball or team sports in general understand that’s not possible if everybody is not on the same page.”

Mueller’s play style and demeanor made him one of South Dakota’s most polorizing boys basketball players of all-time. A 5-foot-11 scoring machine, Mueller played with swagger, flair and a competitive edge not often matched in South Dakota boys basketball history. 

Mueller said his play style was developed through the love of competition and making up for his stature. 

“I was never the biggest, strongest, fastest,” Mueller said. “So I had to make up for some of those physical insufficiencies whatever level it was in. … There’s a scoreboard on. You either win or you lose, and I am going to do any and everything to win period, within somewhat of a reason.”

He averaged 36 points his senior season and the Trojans won back-to-back state championships in 2000 and ‘01. West Central, which was coached by Josh’s father Kent, finished 49-1 during the two-year run.

“The finality of it all is something you never want it to end,” Josh Mueller said. “But you know it’s going to end. So to be able to end it that way with that group of best friends since second, third, fourth grade and to kind of leave no doubt on that couple-year run of West Central basketball was satisfying.”

West Central opened the 2001 state tournament with a 58-43 win over Harrisburg. Mueller scored 32 points against the Tigers, and “didnt feel like I personally had the greatest first-round game.”

Mueller nearly doubled it up with his 60-point outburst against Sioux Valley the next night. Mueller torched the Cossacks with 17 made field goals, eight made 3-pointers and an 18-of-23 performance from the free-throw line. 

Mueller received a roar from the thousands of fans when the record performance was announced, and he was even taken back by it. 

“I have had big games before, but the 60 to hear it just didn’t seem out of the flow or out of the normalcy of the game where I was connecting,” Mueller said. “But to hear 60 was like ‘OK, damn that was a lot of points.’ ”

The 60-point outing set the Class A boys basketball scoring, which was later tied by Mahpiya Luta’s Alejandro Rama and broken by Pine Ridge’s Marvin Richard III this season with a 62-point game. 

Mueller’s 60-point game also came against a familiar foe in Sioux Valley, which had battles with the Trojans since grade school.  

“They always brought out the best in me,” Mueller said. “So to do it against them was also nice and then it was ‘All right cool, now what are we going to do in the finals for an encore?’ ”

The encore was another record performance. Against Newell, Mueller piled up 55 points on 16-of-33 shooting from field, 7-of-14 from the 3-point line and was 16-of-16 from the free-throw line. 

West Central defeated the Irrigators, 104-73, setting the State A record for most points in a championship game. 

Mueller’s prolific high school scoring career was complete, and with another state championship.  

“That was the last one and we wanted to make sure we didn’t have a let down and just put our stamp on high school basketball for what we had done for those last couple of years,” Mueller said. 

Mueller’s 2001 epic performance cemented his legacy as one of South Dakota’s all-time leading scorers. He finished with 2,563 career points, the seventh most in South Dakota high school boys basketball history and was named the state’s 2001 Mr. Basketball. He was a three-time Class A all-stater. 

It was something Mueller had strived for growing up idolizing other South Dakota hoops legends. He modeled his game after other Class A boys basketball players before him, notably the Native American players during that era. 

“I really enjoyed watching those Native teams and to Kent’s credit, he said ‘Well if you want to play that fast you better be damn good’ and so they kind of jump started my love for that,” Mueller said. “I just mirrored my game off of South Dakota people. It wasn’t college players. It wasn’t pro players. It was the South Dakota players that were producing in those state tournaments that I attended from fourth grade on.” 

Mueller continued to pile up points at the University of South Dakota, finishing with 1,994 points. He set USD career records for assists (801), steals (256) and 3-point goals (308). 

The Coyotes offered Mueller in the eighth grade, but his scoring exploits naturally drew attention of other college basketball coaches. He nearly committed to Division I Butler University in Indiana. Butler, however, received a commitment from a Notre Dame transfer and it prompted him to pick the Coyotes. 

“I loved all the schools, and all the offers,” Mueller said. “But it just felt like USD was willing to take a chance on me early and I appreciated that loyalty. It was the best decision I made in my life because I had so much fun at USD, with so many great relationships and people on and off the court.”

Mueller, 42, parlayed his college playing days into a professional career overseas. Following his playing career, Mueller was an assistant coach at Dakota Wesleyan University.

He currently runs the affective needs program at Montbello High School in Denver, Colorado, and is a basketball trainer with Ambush Basketball Academies. Mueller and his wife, Kelsey, have four children — two girls and two boys. 

Mueller and his family will be in Sioux Falls on March 21, supporting the Trojans in their first State A boys basketball appearance since Mueller’s 2001 performance. West Central will play conference foe Lennox in the opening round on March 20. 

Mueller, who has followed the Trojans from afar, is excited to see them experience what him and his teammates did 24 years ago. 

“I just feel very happy for those players, coaches and community to get to taste something again, which seemed like a normal thing,” Mueller said. “But sometimes forget how hard it actually is and for them to achieve that goal is great.”