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NEW ULM -- Longtime Martin Luther College English professor and coach Larry Czer died Monday morning at the age of 66.
Czer served as the MLC women's head basketball coach from 2007 to 2014, with his most successful season coming in the 2011-12 season when the Knights won the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference championship and earned the program's first-ever NCAA tournament berth.
That squad is still the only team to qualify for the women's NCAA tourney.
During that season, the Knights finished with a 20-8 overall record and a 12-2 UMAC mark.
Amanda Carlson, née Burk, was one of the Knights senior leaders during that season, averaging 13.1 ppg and 8.6 rpg during that season as the team's starting forward.
"Larry was an awesome basketball coach," Carlson said. "He had a love for the game and you felt that in his coaching. I was very sad to hear about his passing. I knew him from my high school days."
Alex Maas, née Anthon, was a freshman during the Knights' NCAA tourney run, averaging 9.8 ppg and 4 rpg. She complimented Czer for his passion in the classroom and on the court.
"Coach Czer was a great professor and had such a passion for literature and teaching," she said. "He was also a great coach and we all shared so many memories with him, especially winning the UMAC Championship and making it to the NCAA tournament. He will be missed and I know that we will all be praying for his family for comfort during this time."
Before coming to MLC, Czer taught English and coached girls basketball at West Lutheran High School in Plymouth. In 2019, Czer celebrated his 40th year in the WELS ministry.
Czer was also the women's head golf coach for eight seasons after taking over the program in 2014. While numbers were low in the program for years, Czer helped build a complete women's team in 2015.
He coached the women's program until 2022.
MLC Activities Director Dave Biedenbender was thankful for the many years of service Czer put in at MLC in the classroom, on the basketball court and on the golf course.
"We certainly thank Larry for all of his year's of service to MLC as a professor of English and as a women's basketball and women's golf coach," Biedenbender said. "Very thankful for the time and effort he put in to help our athletic program, and he was part of one of the greatest moment's in MLC women's basketball history with a trip to the NCAA tournament in 2012, and that'll always be a memory we have.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Czer family as they deal with the loss of Larry, but rest assured that Larry is in heaven with his savior and that's the best thing that could have happened to him. And we're thankful that that's where he is, in the arms of Jesus."
After taking on more of an administrative role last year, Czer played a key role in keeping MLC's website updated with current sporting event information and news as MLC looked to fill a vacant Sports Information Director position.
"Larry really helped us out tremendously at the beginning of the [school] year when we had no SID," Biedenbender said. "And Larry stepped in and basically learned how to put stories on the web and he mentored our young students who were trying to do their best at writing stories. … And I didn't expect that out of him, I would call him and ask him maybe if he could help put a score up online or help get a story up, and he was very proactive in helping us keep that going."
Biedenbender said he got to know Czer more closely as he coached Czer's daughters at Minnesota Valley Lutheran in the early 2000s. Czer helped do the scorebook for MVL during Biedenbender's time coaching.
Away from the school, Czer was also involved with the New Ulm Human Rights Commission. Alma Marin-Millan worked with Czer on the commission and shared her thoughts about Czer in a Facebook post.
"Larry Czer was a person you were lucky to have met along the road," she said. "A man of integrity, courage and unlimited grace. His unwavering faith was not something he talked about much, but he lived it in his everyday life and in his interaction with his family, his friends and everybody he encountered. He was a leader and a teacher who led and taught by example. He will be missed so very much! My thoughts are with Ramona and his family, who he adored. Until we meet again, dear Larry."