Bison Athletic Hall of Fame
The all-time coaching wins leader for NDSU men's basketball, Erv Inniger guided the Bison to a 244-150 record over 14 seasons from 1978 to 1992 including one North Central Conference title in 1981.
His teams won 20 or more games twice (20-9 in 1980-81 and 21-9 in 1982-83) and had 19 wins on four other occasions (1983-84, 1984-85, 1986-87 and 1987-88). His teams racked up 13 consecutive winning seasons from 1978 to 1991 and finished in the first division of the NCC 11 times, including runner-up finishes three times (1980, 1985 and 1987).Â
The 1980-81 team advanced to the NCAA Division II regional, where the Bison finished third, and his 1982-83 team made it to the NCAA regional title game, falling by two points to host Morningside.Â
Inniger recruited and/or coached four NDSU Hall of Fame players--Jeff Askew, Lance Berwald, Paul Shogren and Mike Driscoll.Â
A native of Berne, Ind., he was selected to the 2025 class of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and the 1988 Indiana silver anniversary all-star team. He scored 1,132 points and led Berne to a three-year record of 67-12 before playing for Indiana University, where he was captain of the Hoosier team that won the 1967 Big Ten championship. That team went 18-8 and finished third in the NCAA Regional.
Inniger played baseball as well in college and was a standout pitcher. He went on to play two years in the American Basketball Association with the Minnesota Muskies and the Miami Floridians.Â
After leaving pro basketball, he went on to coach four seasons at Golden Valley Lutheran Junior College (66-32) and then five seasons at Augsburg College (99-42) before coming to NDSU.
Inniger's 33 years as a coach and administrator at NDSU included 18 years as an associate athletic director for development from 1992 to 2011. He served two terms as a commissioner on the Fargo City Commission and has had a major hand in developing facilities such as the Ellig Sports Complex and Newman Outdoor Field on the NDSU campus that have benefited both NDSU and the community.
Erv and his wife Linda have two sons. One son, Bart, was captain of the 1991-92 Bison basketball team, and the other son, Brett, played college ball at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn.
