PIDDE HONORED AS ONE OF THE BEST TO EVER PLAY
JEREMY WALTNER – PUBLISHER
For those who want to see Bob Pidde in action, there’s a pretty good chance he can be found behind the deli counter inside Jamboree Foods, Freeman’s downtown grocery story he operates with his son, Brett, and Brett’s wife, Kelsey.
After all, his grocery store is his passion.
Thirty-five years ago, though, Pidde’s passion was evident elsewhere — namely, on the basketball court. But if you wanted to see him in action back then, you had to get there early. Not only were the Flyers the hottest ticket in town, but the gymnasium in which they played — today the Freeman Community Center — was but a matchbox for the Flyers’ fire.
Pidde reflected on that dream 1974-1975 season in his remarks at the South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony Saturday afternoon, Aug. 28 at the Best Western Ramkota in Sioux Falls, where the Freeman native was one of 13 recognized as the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020.
“Playing basketball in the 70s was basketball at its best,” said Pidde, who memorably led the Flyers to the Class B title in March of 1975. “The excitement it gave its school and its fans was at its highest level. The question wasn’t whether our fans were going to the game, but when they had to leave (home) in order to get into the sold-out games.”
He noted a District 21 championship game against archrival Parker at the Sioux Falls Arena that drew 5,000 fans and the YouTube video of the 1975 title game against Dell Rapids St. Mary posted by Sonny Walter that has been viewed more than 2,000 times.
“People can’t believe the excitement and the size of the crowd,” Pidde said. “Students were even sitting on the floor to see the game, and I’ll never forget the 236-car caravan that escorted us to our welcome home celebration.
“It was the Bs and it will never be the same.”
In his remarks, Pidde also thanked his wife, Karen — a year younger than Pidde and a cheerleader for the Flyers — for her enduring support throughout his basketball career, and the coaches who made an impact on him and those around him. That includes Gary Pfeiffer, the junior high coach for the Flyers during the Pidde era who emphasized the fundamentals, assistant coaches Burnell Glanzer and Wayne Knoll, “who taught us the little things that made us better basketball players,” and head coach Ron Bennett, the 1975 Coach of the Year “whose passion and dedication to the game of basketball was unmatched.”
And he thanked his teammates who put in the time and effort it took to win a championship.
“It was a privilege to play with you,” Pidde said. “We worked extremely hard as a group and that paid off with our State B championship. We won the state track meet and we only lost one football game to the No. 1 team, Montrose. Thank you to the Flyer fans for their overwhelming support.”
In his introductory remarks, Dave Wagner, executive director of the S.D. High School Basketball Hall of Fame, said he knew of Pidde and the Flyers well before that title run of 1974-75.
“I was indoctrinated as a head coach in Canistota back in the early 70s by Coach Ron Bennett and a group of young men that were going to go on to become a tremendous basketball team,” Wagner said. “Bob Pidde played on a team, like many of you did, of excellent basketball players. He stood out on that team and had success, not only in high school, but also at South Dakota State University.”
Wagner noted that Pidde saw action in 75 games over four seasons playing for the Jacks; during his junior year, the SDSU men advanced to the North Central Conference regional, and his senior year of 1979, Pidde averaged eight points, five rebounds and five assists and finished his career in Brookings with 466 points, 303 rebounds and 236 assists, with a shooting percentage from the field of 48 percent.
Freeman was well-represented at Saturday’s induction ceremony — Wagner asked if anybody thought to turn the lights off in town when they left — and a handful from the 1974-75 championship team were on hand in support of Pidde, including Bennett.
“I’ve always felt that Bob should be in,” said Bennett, who was in his 10th year coaching the Flyers when they won it all and would go on to coach three more seasons in Freeman following that 1974-75 campaign. “But maybe it’s better that this happens later in life, because it brings back great memories.”
Bennett said he believes the entire 1974-75 team that finished 27-0 deserves recognition.
“Having an undefeated season means a lot,” he said. “There weren’t many of them at that time and there were only two classes, but Bob is certainly deserving; he represents our team and it’s great to see he’s been a successful businessman, too.”
Mark Gross, a starting guard and defensive specialist for the Flyers, was one of the teammates on hand for Pidde’s induction on Saturday and remembers him as an all-around outstanding basketball player.
“He could play defense, on offense he was our go-to guy and, because of him we were never out of a game,” Gross said. “He could run the break, too, and that’s one of the things we did really well.”
“Physically, he just had a lot of talent,” Bennett said of Pidde, whom he said picked up the game quickly, likely because he was around it with his older brother Ted and their dad, Ted Sr.
“He had a great attitude, great support from home and great support from the community,” Bennett said. “He was surrounded by good kids, too. I can’t say enough about those guys. And we had great kids before that. Sometimes the competition around you just doesn’t allow you to go forward.”
“We had an exceptional group of kids who were pretty fair athletes all in our own way,” said Keith Massey, the big man on the team who was also in Sioux Falls on Saturday for the induction. “We had excellent coaching to go along with it, and the kids wanted to play hard and do well.”
Massey, who today lives just outside of Spearfish, said Pidde was, simply put, a natural athlete who was good at everything he did.
“Baseball, football, basketball, track and field, whatever it was; he was just one of those guys who only comes around once in a while,” said Massey, who went on to play at the University of South Dakota-Springfield for three years. “He was a good team leader and everybody looked up to him. That’s very evident if you watch the championship game, how he took charge at the end. That’s the reason we won that game; he just made up his mind that this wasn’t going to slip away and he went to work.
“That’s just the kind of guy he is.”
That Pidde was able to carry the Flyers to the title and generate unparalleled excitement in Freeman, and that Massey got to be part of it all, is exceedingly rewarding to this day.
“We were too young to really know then, to really appreciate what was happening at that time,” Massey continued. “I wish I would have had a better perspective of what was happening back then. It’s no doubt one of the best parts of my life.”
Gross remembers the first day of practice that 1974-75 season, when Bennett told the team that the goal was to take the title.
“We had all the tools,” he told us. “He would not allow us not to work hard. Even in games, if you slacked off a little bit, you’d come out of the game and sit by him and Coach Knoll, and you got a little reminder. There’s a reason we’re here; we’re going all the way.”
For Pidde, Saturday’s recognition was as much about the team he played on as it was about his individual accomplishments, and it was no doubt rewarding to not only have Bennett, Massey and Gross at the induction ceremony, but also Kent Mueller and Dave Jones.
“It was all about the team,” Pidde told The Courier, reflecting on what it was like, not only to play on the large ocean that was the Sioux Falls Arena, but small pond that was the Freeman High School gym.
“It was small, but that’s how all the gyms were back then,” he said. “People who didn’t get there on time didn’t get in, and it was like that every game. But it was a great place to play. We were fine with it; we didn’t know any better. It was fun to have it full.
“I tell you what, I am very honored,” Pidde said of Saturday’s recognition. “We had such a good group and we worked hard. We had a team concept and I’m glad that they recognized the type of player I was and the team-game we played.
“It’s quite an honor,” he continued. “Even from the 70s when I played, there were some very good teams and very good players, and very few of them (are in the South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame). There are a lot of guys that just didn’t make it; that’s why I feel so fortunate.”
