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Gopher Great Terry Kunze Knows What It Takes To Make It At State Tourney

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- He's at the tournament -- every state tournament -- in the same seat. Terry Kunze loves this.

"Well, you know, being on the Mr. Basketball committee I've seen all these teams multiple times," Kunze said. "You know what's fun about basketball is when you know the players, you kind of know what teams are going to do and you can kind of look at the matchups and see if it goes the way you think it's going to go."

A former great player and Gopher assistant, he understands what it takes to make it to the next level.

"I think what happens in Minnesota, a lot of Minnesota coaches do not see players from other states and they think their kid is quick when really he isn't quick. They don't really know what quick is. I think strength is a big deal, I think attitude. Do they run the floor?" Kunze said.

"Like [Daniel] Oturu that's going to go to the University of Minnesota. He's relentless, he goes after every ball, he goes after every block. I think [Gabe] Kalscheur's another kid, although not real quick, when playing with good players he can flat out shoot it. You get him open, he's going to be very effective fr them.

While he sees more high end talent in this state, he believes the tournament is too big of a field.

"The tournament is watered down, four classes. I don't think you should have four, I think you should have three classes," Kunze said.

See when he made it out of Duluth Central it was part of the good old days. One class, eight teams.

"To go up on the floor with 20,000 people screaming and just you feel like you couldn't even move. I think of all the basketball you play in your life, you never forget high school, because you play for a different reason," Kunze said.

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