Karla Nelson's

The head of women’s basketball at Minnesota State University Moorhead has one of the most successful records among Division II coaches. She enters her 20th season as head coach with 19 straight winning seasons. She has led the Dragons to six NCAA tournament appearances and four NSIC regular season titles.

As passionate as she is about women’s basketball, she knows the game is bigger than what is played on the court.

More than a decade ago there was a student athlete on her team who had talent and tenacity, but rebelled against coaching. Her relationship with Nelson was fraught with frustration and disappointment. After her senior season ended, the two stopped speaking.

A few years ago, the coach decided to personally invite the woman to return to campus for an alumni event.

“I set my pride aside and made that phone call,” Nelson says. The former player agreed to come back to campus, and Nelson gained more insight into challenges the woman had faced as a student. The two now keep in contact. “Mending that relationship is my biggest victory,” Nelson says. “That was a huge life lesson for me.”

Nelson, 52, fell in love with basketball before she learned to dribble. Every win and every loss instructs; every player teaches. She has mastered the techniques needed to coach winning teams. And yet, over the years, the game has taught Nelson so much more. She has learned her most important lesson yet: The game is bigger than points scored; it’s about building up the women around her.

Take for instance, her players. During practice, Nelson is ruthless. She shouts demands. Pushes. Challenges. Outside the gym, her concerns transform: How are her players doing in the classroom? What is their work ethic? How are they doing after they leave the program?

“She realizes the impact and influence she has on the sport and wants to make the most of it,” says Doug Peters, athletic director at MSUM. “She’s not trying to develop great basketball players; she’s working to develop great women.”

When Nelson was in second grade, her teacher asked everyone in the class what they wanted to be when they grew up. Most of the answers were predictable: teacher, firefighter, farmer, truck driver. Nelson said she wanted to be a coach.

“I loved playing,” she says. “Sports, and playing basketball in particular, inspired me to do what I needed to do.”

She excelled as a basketball player at Erskine (Minnesota) High School, and became the first athlete in her school to reach the magical 1,000-point club. She went on to play at the University of North Dakota where she was a three-year captain and helped lead her team to the NCAA Division II playoffs as a junior.

A friend, Jean Roise, took over the Dragon women’s basketball program in 1994, and she invited Nelson to join her as an assistant coach. She served six seasons in that role and took the top post when Roise resigned in 2000.

From the start, Nelson brought an intensity to the game that led to sustained success, the holy grail that programs strive for but few achieve. Of the 307 Division II women’s basketball teams, there are only six programs that match or better the Dragon’s recent streak of winning seasons.

“I hire people and recruit people who want to work,” Nelson says. “People don’t realize it, but when you’re in the middle of a season — it’s not fun. Everybody wants to win, but to win, there are prices to pay.”

Jacky Volkert, a 2019 graduate of MSUM and female athlete of the year, experienced those tough standards. On Volkert’s third practice as a Dragon, Nelson ordered the team to perform a drill that the point guard couldn’t do successfully. Every single time Volkert had the ball, Nelson stood nearby and yelled at her.