Winona State University Athletics

WSU Head Men's Basketball Coach for 11 years 1970-71 thru 1974-75 and 1992-93 thru 1997-98
Conference Coach of the Year 3 Times 1971-72, 1972-73, 1974-75
WSU won 4 Conference Championships 1971-72, 1972-73, 1973-74, 1974-75
WSU won 2 NSIC District 13 Championships 1972-73, 1974-75

When it comes to success in men's basketball at Winona State University, there is no head coach who has had more of it than Leslie (Les) L. Wothke.

Wothke's teams in the early 1970s dominated play in the state of Minnesota and the upper Midwest and packed the gymnasium at Winona State. The Warriors won four straight conference championships, captured a couple of NAIA District 13 championships and made two appearances in the NAIA national championships. In all, Wothke coached 11 seasons at WSU and compiled an 183-110 record and earned three conference Coach of the Year honors.

Wothke went on to be an assistant coach at the University of Illinois before becoming a head coach at two NCAA Division I teams -- leading the Western Michigan Broncos for three years and then heading the charges at the United States Military Academy at West Point for eight seasons. Wothke added coach of the Year honors at each institution.

Eventually Wothke recorded over 300 victories and after his second tenure at Winona State Wothke, would be inducted to the NSIC Hall of Fame.

Over the years Wothke has lectured in excess of 150 clinics and campuses throughout the United States. He has also been head clinician at foreign clinics in Damascus, Syria, Instanbul, Turkey and in the Peoples Republic of China.