Back in 2001 when Pryor Orser was hired at Mines, things were different.
“We had one gym. An old gym. Old wooden bleachers,” said Orediggers Head Basketball Coach Pryor Orser. Things were very different, “We had one locker room that we shared with 350 other male student athletes.”
So different that people had no clue, “We would go down to Golden and we would run into people and I can’t tell you how many times [people said] ‘I didn’t know you guys had a basketball program.’ Now that never happens.”
It never happens because it’s hard to ignore winning. Especially when you’ve won 400 games in 22 seasons. On Friday November 25th, when the final buzzer sounded after Mines beat Kansas Wesleyan 82-58 at Lockridge Arena in Golden, the PA announcer congratulated the Orediggers head man for winning his 400th career game.
“That’s your legacy,” said Orser. “That’s what you're going to be remembered by. I mean winning’s important. It’s how you keep your job. At the end of the day, I think the one word I could think about is being thankful.”
Orser isn’t just grateful for the x’s and O’s, but for the way he’s grown during his time in Golden, “I think as I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten more patient with players. All coaches are insecure creatures because they’re trying to save their job early on in their careers. There’s pressure and I think that I’ve started coaching beyond that.”
Mines has won so much under Orser: five RMAC regular-season titles, two RMAC tournament championships, and 11 NCAA Division II tournament berths (including two Elite Eights). He became the program’s all-time wins leader last season, but despite all of those accolades, it’s the student-athletes he’s most proud of.
“We’ve done it the right way. We’ve won the right way. We play the right way of basketball, with ball movement and sharing the basketball and recruiting high character guys. I’m thankful and grateful to be here at the Colorado School of Mines.”