6 days Ago By Ryan Spitza
FARGO — John Oxton would have relished the opportunity to coach basketball at his alma mater. But the stars never aligned for the Fargo North grad of 1979. “I always just kind of felt like, ‘Well, if it’s in the cards to go back to Fargo someday, maybe,’ ” Oxton said.
“But Lakeville has been so good to me, it’s become our second home for sure.” Oxton is referring to Lakeville, Minnesota, the Twin Cities exurb he’s now called home for 35 years. Lakeville wasn’t the first stop on his journey.
After earning his degree in physical education from North Dakota State, Oxton moved out to Montana to begin his career as a teacher and a coach. “Right out of college, my first job was at Wilsall, Montana,” Oxton said. “And I was the head girls basketball coach and the head boys basketball coach believe it or not.
That was back in the days when girls basketball was in the fall and the guys were in the winter. “So I did that for a couple of years, then I moved on to Gardiner, Montana.” There, Oxton led the Gardiner High School boys basketball team to the 1989 Class C Montana state championship.
It was one of his earliest accomplishments, and little did he know at the time, the beginning of what would become a Hall of Fame coaching career. In 1990, Oxton was hired by Lakeville Senior High School as its boys basketball coach — with the only bits on his coaching resume to that point being that he coached two high schools in rural Montana with a state title at one of them. “I coached in very small towns,” Oxton said.
“I mean, we’re talking really small.” The gamble Lakeville took on a young coach paid off. Thirty-three seasons and 706 wins later, Oxton announced his retirement from coaching on Thursday.
“I had a lot of old coaches over the years always tell me, ‘You’re going to know when it’s time,’ ” Oxton said. “And I know that it’s time.” Oxton retired as one of seven coaches in Minnesota history to surpass the 700-win mark and had been one of four active head coaches to achieve the feat.
Win No. 700 came against Farmington in January. His resume at Lakeville — which later became Lakeville North in 2005 — also includes 13 section championships and leading the Panthers to the 2014 Minnesota Class 4A state championship.
Including his Montana stops, Oxton spent 41 years coaching. He retired from teaching in 2023. “I know what it takes to run a successful program and the energy that it takes,” Oxton said.
“The enthusiasm and the passion ...
I’ll be honest with you, I think some of that has waned for me in the last few years. And I’ve just kind of realized that it’s time to maybe focus on my family a little bit more, have a little more free time and just do some other things. “It’s been an amazing run, but it just feels right that this was time for sure.
” Oxton is a member of the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the Lakeville Panther Hall of Fame and the Fargo North Hall of Fame. He was a multisport athlete for the Spartans, playing point guard for the basketball team and cornerback for the football team. “I was super lucky to play for Charlie Hanish who was a great football coach,” Oxton said.
“And then Carl Wall was my basketball coach and Carl has been a friend of mine and has followed my career for these last 41 years which is pretty crazy. He’s been a part of my life, he lives down here in the Cities now and that’s been really cool to share that with him.” Oxton was a member of North’s first-ever state championship basketball team as a sophomore in 1977.
“It was amazing, it was unbelievable,” Oxton recalled. “I started the year on the sophomore team. Halfway through the season, Carl’s wisdom decided that he needed a 5-foot-10 guard that weighed probably 135 pounds and he needed me to play on the varsity.
“The seniors were unbelievable and took me in. We just had a great ride and ended up winning the state tournament. I don’t know how much I had to do with that, but we had some great senior players on that team.
Being a part of that was super special for sure.” Oxton was inducted into the North Hall of Fame in 2015. He said he still keeps up with the Spartans when he can and still has connections within the North community.
“We actually had a basketball reunion either last fall or the fall before,” Oxton said. “And I had actually met Travis Hoeg, so I’ve been in contact with him some. Then a guy that I played high school basketball with, Jeff Dehne, he’s been involved in Lakeville North basketball for years.
His (children) played there and stuff like that. “So there’s a few people (at North) but that’s changed over the years as well.” Oxton took a two-year hiatus from the head coaching role from 2006-08.
He handed the keys over to assistant coach Mike Nolan, who had been on Oxton’s staff since 1996 all the way through his retirement. Mark Haddorff was also an assistant on Oxton’s teams from 2000-23. Those are only two names on a long list of supporting cast who have helped Oxton along the way — in coaching, teaching and life.
“That’s been such a huge blessing,” Oxton said. “Obviously, family, my wife is No. 1.
My wife Julene, she’s a Fargo North grad as well. We’re high school sweethearts and she’s been by my side through everything. I was able to coach my kids here in Lakeville.
Both of my sons played for me at Lakeville North and we made it to the state tournament with both of those guys, which was awesome. My daughter played at Lakeville South and I got to watch her play as well. “My assistants .
.. that’s one thing over the years, I’ve had some people that have been with me a really long time.
(Nolan) is the one that’s been with me the longest, he’s been with me for 28 years which is just incredible. (Haddorff) was with me for 20 years or something like that. Then I had a sophomore coach, Troy Sergent, he was with me for at least 15 years.
The four of us were together for many, many years. It’s definitely been like a family affair. A very tight-knit group of guys and it’s just been an incredible ride with them for sure.
” Among Oxton’s favorite memories were reaching the state tournament with his oldest son Darren on the team in 2006 and again with his younger son Joel in 2012. Winning the Section 1-4A championship eight straight seasons from 2012-19 was another highlight, with seven of those wins coming against the same opponent. “It was quite a deal,” Oxton said.
“We finished second, won a state championship and did all sorts of stuff and it was pretty crazy. The other kind of goofy or memorable thing with that was we beat Rochester John Marshall seven straight years to go to the state tournament. “They were blessed with some very, very good players.
A kid that played at Duke, another that played at the University of Minnesota. Those were some great memories for sure.” Now that he’s retired, Oxton said some warm vacation destinations may be on deck soon, but he has no plans on packing his bags permanently.
“All of our grandkids are here in the (Twin Cities) metro area so they’re all really close,” Oxton said. “I would imagine that hopefully we’ll get a little time in Arizona or Florida or something like that, but I think most of the time we’re going to be up here. Our children and grandchildren mean a great deal to us and I don’t think we want to be missing out on too much of that.
” The answer as to why Oxton spent as long as he did coaching spans far beyond his love for basketball. “I did love basketball, but what I really loved was competing with kids and getting them to challenge themselves and be better,” Oxton said. “Our main mantra over all these years has always been, ‘We’re going to play as a team and we’re going to play our (butts) off all the time.
We’re going to play harder than anyone else and we’re going to play together.’ “I’m a very competitive person and I just loved that. And I loved the idea of taking a vehicle like basketball and teaching kids about life.
Getting them to exhibit better character, be better teammates, be better people, be better students, be better sons and husbands and all that kind of stuff. That to me was always so fulfilling to watch kids grow up. That’s something I’m certainly going to miss.
” Although Lakeville has become his second home for the better part of three decades, Oxton still hasn’t forgotten where he came from. “I was so fortunate to grow up in Fargo,” Oxton said. “I had a great childhood, awesome place.
Fargo’s always been a place that’s near and dear to my heart. It’s been really fun to see all of the great things that have happened at Fargo North. It’s a great place and I wish everybody there the best of luck as well.
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