Brian Cosgriff returns to basketball coaching, with his family on his mind and in his heart
MINNETONKA, Minn. – Brian Cosgriff built Hopkins girls' basketball program into a dynasty.
After two years away as a head coach, he's back at rival Minnetonka. They will play each other Wednesday night, but this is not a story about his comeback, as much as it's a story about his family.
Cosgiff had already accomplished everything at Hopkins; state championships, the Hall of Fame, and too many Division I players to recall at one setting.
After two seasons as an assistant and broadcaster, he came back as a head coach to the rival, accepting the job at Minnetonka High School.
"It was a great move," Brian said.
The team is winning despite a key injury and young roster. But that's not why he's here entirely either.
At every practice and every game, sitting at a table is a special assistant coach. His younger brother, Barre, suffers from MS, and has been with him for 23 seasons as his right-hand man.
"Whenever I think about, you know, I want to get out of this, now I think about my brother, because he loves this stuff," Brian said. "And I want to do whatever I can to support him."
Barre has been inducted into the Minnesota Coaches Hall of Fame as well – a rarity for an assistant. He keeps candy handy for the team, and organizes everything.
"I try to get the scouting report down here, the practice plan for the day," Barre said.
He's not the only sibling that has suffered. He lost an older brother to lung cancer, and his older sister has Stage 4 ovarian cancer.
"She hasn't gone a weekend without having to throw up or, lost her hair, and she's got a blood clot on her lung," Brian said. "She's the toughest person I've ever met."
Family is what brought him back. A diversion, yes, but providing a younger brother with a daily purpose.
"He watches over me like a sheep dog and makes sure everything's OK," Barre said. "It means the world to me. I mean, with MS, my world's kind of slowed down for work, so this is what gets me up in the morning, gets me out of my house."
The first time he played against his former team, it did not go well. The goal is to change that in time. But in the midst of that potentially-heated rivalry, there is so much more. A brother, who makes the comeback to coaching worthwhile.
"Now I think about my brother, because he loves this stuff," Brian said. "And I want to do whatever I can to support him."
And Wednesday, he and Barre will prepare for their former school, but winning a game is not the ultimate victory. They've already put the biggest "W" in the family scorebook.
"Just the fact that we can spend time on a daily basis together is huge," Brian said.
