Longtime legendary University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball head coach Dale Race passed away Friday at the age of 78 after a long battle with prostate cancer.

Race's basketball program brought prestige and national visibility to both UMD and the entire Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. In 14 years, he was district or regional coach of the year eight times, and earned eight NSIC Coach of the Year honors. Race amassed more victories and owned the best winning percentage (.709) of any coach in the history of Bulldog men's basketball, with an overall record of 293-120 from 1984-1998. He guided the Bulldogs to nine 20-win seasons, eight NSIC championships (1986-92 and 1997), eight NAIA National Tournament appearances (1985-92), as well as one NCAA Division II playoff berth (1997). Race led nine different teams to a top-25 national rankings, and his 1990-91 squad eclipsed the school-season record for wins by going 27-5 – a record that still stands today.

In 18 total years of collegiate coaching (including four seasons at the now-defunct Milton College (Wis.) from 1975-1979), Race was 363-170 (a .681 winning percentage). A native of Marinette, Wis., and a 1970 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, he also served as an assistant coach at both Milton College (1971-1975) and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (1980-1984). In 1989, he was an assistant coach on the Gold Medal Team at the U.S. Olympic Festival under coaching legend Jud Heathcote of Michigan State. Race is a member of the UMD Athletics Hall of Fame (inducted in 2004), the NSIC Hall of Fame (2001), the UW-Oshkosh Hall of Fame, the Milton College Hall of Fame, the Marinette High School Hall of Fame and was also inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2008.

After he stepped down from his head coaching post following the 1997-98 season, Race became the first coordinator of the Bulldog Club, a duty he fulfilled for four years. Race helped the Bulldog Club provide all UMD sports support and a fundraising group that oversaw the athletic department's various marketing activities. Race wrapped up his college basketball coaching with one more stop, accepting an assistant men's basketball coaching position at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, a NCAA Division I institution, in 2002. He was compelled to return to coaching when asked by his former Bulldog player, Tod Kowalczyk, and Tod's desire to have Race by his side as an assistant, a testament to the lifelong loyalty and devotion Race inspired in his players.

Following an outstanding high school athletic career in Marinette, Wisconsin, Race attended UW-Oshkosh to play basketball. The tallest guard in the conference, Race helped the Titans to a 17-6 record and a WSUC championship in 1967 and another league crown in 1968. Both the 1967 and 1968 teams advanced to the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., with the latter squad finishing third in the country after upsetting No. 1-seed Guilford College (N.C.) and the NBA Seattle Supersonics' 1968 first-round draft pick Bob Kauffman in the opening round.

While Race was proud of his outstanding athletic achievements on the court, he was more proud of the relationships he developed with his players and of the role he had in coaching and mentoring them in life. Race was a friend to his players and students well past the time they graduated, and his continuing impact on their lives is reflected in the number of "grand"players - the children of his players - that Race followed and cheered for over the years. 

Race is survived by his wife of 54 years, Margaret, his oldest daughter Jennifer and her husband Wally, and his youngest daughter Kari and her husband Nick. He is also survived by innumerable devoted friends he made across the years - including his longtime assistant coach and friend Gary Holquist - who spent 50+ years literally and figuratively by his side. Race is also survived by those countless numbers of former players he considered family and by a legacy that will live on through all those he impacted.

A Celebration of Life will be announced at a later date.