Hopkins boys basketball assistant coach Kerry Sutherland made an interesting observation the first time he was invited into the home of longtime Royals coach Ken Novak Jr.

For all of Novak’s victories and state titles during a storied career that started at Blaine in 1982, the coach’s home didn’t display many signs of basketball.

During a 40-plus-year career, Novak has won eight state championships, including his last two titles with Sutherland by his side in 2016 and 2019.

Sutherland decided to put together a scrapbook that would help Novak remember some of those fond championship memories.

Being part of the Royals family means everything to Sutherland. So much so that being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July 2025 hasn’t kept him away from the team. Despite the diagnosis, he hasn’t missed a game this season. On the mornings he undergoes chemotherapy treatment, he will still show up for practice that night.

His presence has been inspiring.

“I’m going to show them I’m going to fight through some of the toughest adversity to be there for them,” Sutherland said before a practice in early January.

Sutherland, 66, never expected he would be fighting a serious health condition, but he wants to be with his players and Novak, who nears retirement as he chases the all-time Minnesota boys basketball mark of 1,012 wins by Bob McDonald.

Sutherland hopes his cancer goes into remission by the end of his treatment cycle in April.

“You’re not going to find anyone more giving and caring for other people than Kerry,” Novak said. “I’m in awe of it.”

Novak is not one for celebrating accomplishments, but he happily shook Sutherland’s hand after recording his 1,000th win Jan. 6 against Maple Grove at the Royals Athletic Center.

‘Winning the Fight’ together

A message in the Hopkins team room reads: “Winning the Fight,” which resonates with players on many levels — how to attack each workout, practice and game — but also pertains to Sutherland’s health situation.

“It’s a journey, it’s a fight,” senior guard Jayden Moore said. “But it’s family. And when you’re a family, you can get through tough things together like with coach Kerry.”

Novak had won six state titles, including three straight from 2009 to 2011, but he was looking to fill a key role on his staff in 2013. Sutherland, at that time, was a Life Time, Inc. director, but his résumé included a six-year coaching stint at St. Bernard’s in St. Paul during the 2000s, which included coaching Trevor Mbakwe, later a Gophers standout.

“We were able to integrate very well,” Novak said. “Our psyches are very similar. Kerry’s great with kids. We worked with a lot of great guys around us. It’s just been fun.”

One of Sutherland’s fondest memories at Hopkins is coaching alongside Novak and Novak’s late father, Ken Sr. Together, the trio coached great teams and players, including Amir Coffey, Zeke Nnaji and Kerwin Walton. Coffey, a former Gophers star, and Nnaji are currently playing in the NBA, with Coffey in Milwaukee and Nnaji in Denver.

“It’s a great program, and he’s a great coach,” Sutherland said about Novak Jr. “It was a big honor for me to coach with him and his dad.”

Another great memory for Sutherland was flying to Nigeria last April to help Nnaji’s basketball foundation host a four-day clinic. He can be seen on a social media video posted from the African youth camp doing push-ups effortlessly. It mirrored his fitness aptitude even after his first chemotherapy session.

Looking ahead

Sutherland is a leader and motivator who has taught toughness and grit to players. His cancer battle challenged his own resolve like nothing before. He was concerned early on that he could no longer coach basketball.

“There were a lot of questions from my family and even by Coach [Novak],” Sutherland said. ”There was timing of surgery and treatment that was not looking very favorable for coaching, which was a little bit depressing. But then we got it all figured out. … I was a lot more optimistic after surgery and treatment started."

Sutherland’s championship experience with Novak has been important on a Hopkins team that is trying to integrate several newcomers into the system.

The Royals returned Jayden and Tre Moore in the backcourt and Ahmed Nur in the post from last season, but new to the team are transfers Xavier Frelix, Anthony Byrd and Kyree Nelson.

Former Park Center coach James Ware, who coached the Pirates to a state title in 2022, also joined as an assistant this season to bolster the staff and replace Novak once he retires.

Last season, Hopkins entered the Class 4A, Section 6 tournament as the No. 1 seed, but the Royals lost to rival and No. 2-seeded Wayzata, extending the program’s state tournament drought to five years.

Then, in December, the Royals hit three-game losing streak. It was a tough moment for a program with high expectations this season. The Royals regrouped, though, and won six straight before falling 74-68 to Eden Prairie on Jan. 13.

“We’re coming together,” Jayden Moore said. “We know the end goal is obviously to win that state championship. But it starts with practice, pushing ourselves and keeping accountability with each other.”

There’s nothing the players want more than to lead Hopkins back to state and get Novak the record as he rides off into the sunset at the end of his career.

But this season has become more than wins and records. Through Sutherland’s courageous battle, the team has learned toughness and fight to overcome hardships, beyond the game of basketball.

“We don’t have a battle cry,” Sutherland said. “Our program starting with [Novak] is about being better people. We love winning. But cheering stops for everybody. When it does, what are you going to do with your life? Hopefully, this teaches them there are much tougher battles than basketball. So how are you going to fight through those things and show perseverance and grit as you go through your life?”

Basketball Across Minnesota

Fuller’s five

Five Minnesota ballers who stood out:

Sophia Anderson, Maple Grove: The senior guard and Augustana recruit scored 25 points to lead the Crimson (with leading scorer Kate Holmquist out injured) to an upset over Minnetonka on Jan. 9.

Braeden Carrington, Wisconsin: The former Park Center star and Minnesota Mr. Basketball had 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds in an upset win Jan. 10, at No. 2 Michigan, including going 3-for-4 on free throws in the final 32 seconds. On Jan. 13, he scored 21 points with seven threes to help the Badgers beat the Gophers 78-75 at Williams Arena.

Grace Grocholski, Gophers: The 5-10 junior had 25 points, eight rebounds and three steals in a 63-62 win against No. 21 USC on Jan. 11, which ended a 36-game skid vs. ranked opponents for the Gophers.

Brogan Madson, Sioux Falls: The freshman, a former Mankato East standout, averaged 23 points for his Division II team during a six-game winning streak, including his fourth straight 20-point game Saturday in a victory vs. Bemidji State.

Tori Oehrlein, Crosby-Ironton: The future Gophers guard had back-to-back 50-point performances to start the New Year with 51 points vs. Hinckley-Finlayson on Jan. 6 and 50 points vs. East Central on Jan. 8. She is closing in on Rebekah Dahlman’s all-time girls scoring record.

Minnesotans in the NBA: Career-best month for Nnaji

Former Hopkins standout Zeke Nnaji was selected 22nd by the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2020 NBA draft out of Arizona.

Nnaji won an NBA title with the Nuggets in 2023, but he’s having the best stretch of his pro career now.

In the first six games in January, the 6-10 forward was averaging 12.7 points on 55% shooting, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks, which included a career-high 21 points and eight rebounds in a 125-124 overtime win at Philadelphia on Jan. 5. He has had four straight double-figure scoring games for the first time.

In a Jan. 11 win against the Bucks and fellow Minnesota products Amir Coffey, Jericho Sims and Gary Trent Jr., Nnaji had 14 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in 28 minutes off the bench.

College team of the week

Last February, the Gustavus men’s basketball team entered the national Division III rankings for the first time in 20 years.

That wasn’t a fluke. The Golden Gusties, who have uniforms resembling Gophers throwbacks, jumped into the D-III poll recently at No. 14 after starting this season 13-1. The take an 11-game winning streak into Concordia-Moorhead on Jan. 14.

Gustavus coach Justin DeGrood went 21-5 last season, including a program-best 15-1 in the MIAC. This year, the Gusties are led in scoring by Myles Barnette and Jake Schmitt, both Wayzata graduates. Leading rebounder Carson Koch, the MIAC defensive player of the week, is from East Ridge.

Minnesota Top 25 update

Coach Brady Wohler’s Belle Plaine boys team was ranked No. 1 in Class 2A entering the new year. Nobody was prouder of him than his parents.

Then came the father vs. son matchup Jan. 9. Maybe a bit awkward for the family, but Belle Plaine defeated top 10 Class 3A Orono, under the direction of legendary Spartans coach Barry Wohler, 78-67.

Belle Plaine kept its No. 1 ranking with its only loss to St. Peter, a Class 3A opponent. The Tigers could move up in the statewide ranking.

Also, Maple Grove boys and girls picked up wins vs. No. 1 teams in Class 4A action. Wayzata boys dropped its first game against Minnesota competition this season in a 77-75 loss at Maple Grove on Jan. 13. Minnetonka girls were upset by the Crimson 85-74 on Jan. 9.

Final thoughts …

I believe the first high school game I ever covered in Minnesota was Hopkins vs. Patrick Henry more than 20 years ago. Future Gophers Kris Humphries and Lawrence McKenzie faced off. Royals coach Ken Novak Jr. didn’t win that night, but he eventually won his first state championship with that team in 2002. So, it’s pretty cool to cover Novak again this season (my first on the prep beat locally since then) and to see him closing on breaking the all-time victories mark.

. . .

Basketball Across Minnesota will be published weekly on stribvarsity.com. Don’t be a stranger on X after reading, as chatting about these stories makes them even more fun to share. Thanks, Marcus (@Marcus_R_Fuller on X).