Longtime St. Thomas Athletic Director Gets The Bobblehead Treatment

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The latest Twin Cities sports personality to have a bobblehead likeness in his honor is longtime Saint Thomas athletic director Steve Fritz.

"It did arrive here Wednesday, it was the first time I had seen it," said Fritz, who's marking his 50th year on the school's Saint Paul campus. "It's not in my style, but I'm certainly very, very honored."

Does it resemble the Hall-of-Fame player and coach?

"That's the best part about the whole thing," said Fritz. "The bobblehead always looks a lot better."

Fritz grew up in Blooming Prairie, graduated from Rochester Lourdes High School, and enrolled at Saint Thomas in 1967.

He was a three-time all-MIAC player for the Tommie men's basketball team, scoring 1,944 points and helping the team to the NAIA national tournament during his junior and senior season.

After graduating, Fritz started his first job at his alma mater in 1971.

Since then, Fritz put in ten years as an assistant basketball coach for the Tommies before replacing Tom Feely as head coach in 1980. He held that spot for 31 years, stepping down after leading Saint Thomas to the NCAA Division III national championship in 2011. Fritz has been Saint Thomas athletic director for 25 years.

He was named MIAC coach of the year 14 times, leading Saint Thomas to ten league titles and 12 appearances in the D-III tournament.

During all those year, Fritz has been involved in 1,360 Saint Thomas men's basketball games. The Tommies' record in that stretch is 966-394.

And now, to go along with the accolades of a long and distinguished career comes the bobblehead, portraying Fritz as the smiling coach of the Tommies with the net from the national championship game around his neck.

"Well, it was a surprise," said Fritz about the bobblehead. "It went from a magazine article to this. It's kind of a little bit of a big leap, but it got a little steam under it. Certainly more than willing to support the whole thing."

The Steve Fritz bobblehead goes on sale for the first time Saturday, Jan. 14, during the Tommies' men and women's basketball doubleheader against Concordia-Moorhead. The games are played -- where else? -- on Steve Fritz Court. They're also on sale starting Monday, Jan. 16, at the Tommie Shop in the Anderson Student Center on the school's Saint Paul campus.