MOORHEAD, Minn. - A three-sport letterman at Minnesota State University Moorhead and architect of the greatest single season in Dragon basketball history, Marv Skaar died Thursday in Red Wing at age 82.

Skaar spent five seasons as head basketball coach at MSC (MSUM formerly known as Moorhead State College) and guided the Dragons to a remarkable 24-2 finish in 1970-71 that included a Northern Intercollegiate Conference championship, a fourth place regular season ranking on the final NAIA regular season poll, and a school record 15-game win streak.

His Dragon clubs played to SRO crowds nightly at Alex Nemzek Hall,  the talk of the Red River Valley, and Skaar was saluted as Marvelous Marv. A player's coach, he earned not only their respect and devotion, but it's what they called him behind his back that spoke loudest. They simply called him "Groovy."

A1945 graduate of Moorhead High School, Skaar enrolled at Moorhead State after a military tour with the United States Navy and earned a bachelor' s degree. After coaching stops at Lake City, Oakes, No. Dak. and Grand Forks, Skaar joined the Dragon staff as men's head basketball coach in 1967.

After his stay at MSUM, Skaar was named head coach at North Dakota State in 1972. He coached the Bison until 1979 and later entered private business. Skaar also served 27 years in the United States Army Reserve, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Skaar was named to the Dragon Hall of Fame in 1996, and was also inducted into the American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 and the North Dakota High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 1994.

Funeral services are planned for Tuesday, May 18, at 2 p.m. at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Moorhead, with interment at Fort Snelling Cemetery in Minneapolis.

Thanks for the wonderful memories, and rest in peace, coach.