Pat Dobratz - Inducted 2001

Sioux Falls 1970 Lincoln High grad. 1974 South Dakota State grad.Dobratz was a trailblazer as a player and coach. At Lincoln High, when virtually no girls sports existed, Dobratz played on intramural teams. At SDSU, she became a multi-talented standout, competing in tennis, volleyball and basketball. Dobratz led SDSU to four consecutive state Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women championships in basketball (1971-74) and to three regional playoff appearances in volleyball. A 5-foot-10 forward, she scored 1,334 points during her Jackrabbit career, and still holds the SDSU record for highest career scoring average (18.8). In 1972, she averaged 22.1 points a game (still No. 3 on the SDSU list), leading SDSU to the national AIAW tournament. After that season, she was invited to try out for the World University Games.

She coached girls basketball three years at Watertown High School, guiding the Arrows to a 51-4 record, including the 1976 state Class A championship. She was the first woman to coach a South Dakota big-school team to a girls state basketball title. She and her dad (Lloyd Dobratz) are the only father and daughter to coach state title teams.

After earning her master's degree at Kansas State and serving as the assistant women's basketball coach in 1978, Dobratz became the assistant and interim head coach at the University of Washington. She then moved to the University of Idaho, where she had a 142-39 record for six seasons (1981-86), earning Big Six Conference coach of the year in 1985, when her team finished 28-2. Idaho made six straight postseason appearances, including winning the women's NIT title in 1986. In Dobratz's last two seasons at Idaho, the Vandals were an NCAA Division I program.

Dobratz is the first South Dakota woman to coach an NCAA Division I basketball team. In 1995, she was the first woman to be inducted into the SDSU Sports Hall of Fame.