Gordy Hakes was a gentleman's coach

Brian Ojanpa
The Free Press

MANKATO May 12, 2008 09:33 pm

— In describing former Mankato high school basketball coach Gordy Hakes, “gentleman” is a word that comes quickly to those who knew him.
“If he got a technical foul called on him, it was probably a mistake. He was a real even-keel guy,” said Bob Gaarder, who coached many years with Hakes.
Hakes, who died Sunday at 81 from complications of a blood disease, began coaching basketball at the city’s sole public high school, Mankato High, in 1964.
His teams claimed three Big Nine Conference titles and made four state tournament appearances before he became athletic director at Mankato West High in 1981, working in that position until his retirement in 1989.
The Montevideo native was president of his high school class, quarterback of the football team, and a standout basketball player with a special skill — ambidexterity.
It was a trait that also served him as a math teacher.
“In class he’d write on the board with one hand, then the other, to see how long it would take before someone noticed,” said his daughter, Kathy Olson.
Hakes joined the Navy right out of high school, serving in the Pacific during World War II. He graduated from Hamline University, then acquired a master’s degree from Mankato State College.
Retired Mankato West Principal John Barnett said Hakes’ coaching style was one of “controlled intensity.”
“He had high expectations of his kids, and selfish play would upset him. When that would happen, he’d yank a player out of the game, but then he’d put them back in. He really stressed the team concept,” Barnett said.
“He was an excellent role model; he modeled the behavior that he expected out of his kids.”
Services for Hakes will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Centenary United Methodist Church in Mankato.