RAPID CITY — Rapid City’s Barnett Arena has been good to Silas Blaine.

The Wakpala boys basketball coach has guided teams to five Lakota Nation Invitational championships on the court, and on Thursday he added another memory at the venue — career win No. 500. 

“It means a lot to win it at LNI,” Blaine said. “LNI is such a big event for us. My teams have won the LNI five times on this court. So to win it on this court is an awesome experience.”

Blaine has also coached at Crow Creek, Little Wound and Crazy Horse. He won LNI championships in 1993, ‘94, ‘95, ‘98 and 2001. He’s also won nine Dakota Oyate Challenge championships, one at Wakpala and eight at Crow Creek. He coached Crow Creek to state tournament appearances in 1991, ‘92, 2000, ‘02 and ‘10, highlighted by the Class B state runner-up finish in ‘91. 

Blaine added to his coaching résumé on Thursday, becoming the 12th boys basketball coach to win 500 or more victories. The other coaches in the 500 win club are Larry Luitjens, Gary Munsen, Paul Raasch, Burnell Glanzer, Gayle Hoover, Mike Tuschen, Frank Cutler, Dave Hollenbeck, Jim Schlekeway, Bill Marquardt and Doug Groth.

Luitjens, a long-time coach at Custer, is the all-time leader with 748 wins. Blaine and Luitjens had several coaching battles at both the LNI and state tournaments, while gaining respect for each other. 

“He always had great athletes and it’s always a great program,” said Blaine about Luitjens, who died in 2023. “It was always fun to go against him and coach against him.”

On Thursday, Blaine recorded the milestone win with a 52-43 victory over Tiospa Zina. Blaine, who has coached for 37 years, immediately began thinking about how his team can improve following the win. 

But he still appreciated the magnitude of the victory, and those that made it possible. 

“I have had a lot of good teams, a lot of good players,” Blaine said. “This accomplishment goes to them. It brings back a lot of memories of what we did, and what we accomplished.”

Blaine, 64, isn’t sure how many more years he will coach. But as long as he’s having fun and the players are bought in, he will continue to coach. 

“Coaching is fun,” Blaine said. “When you have players that work hard, it’s not a job. It’s fun.”