John's Journal: Basketball Is A Family Affair At Royalton High School

If you observe the coaching staff of the Royalton High School girls basketball team during a game, you may notice a few things. For example, the head coach often stands with his arm crossed. One of the assistants sits up in his chair, elbows resting on his knees, watching the action closely. The other assistant, an older gentleman, leans back, legs crossed and arms folded, seeming quite at ease, as if he has seen everything.

If you also notice a physical similarity, you have sharp powers of observation. The three coaches are family, as is the lady keeping the scorebook for the Royals. Here’s the rundown…

--Brad Baumann is the head coach.

--His only sibling, his brother Britt, is an assistant.

--Their father, Bill, is an assistant.

--Their mom, Carol, is in charge of the book.

Basketball is the Baumann family business, and business is booming. The Royals are undefeated this season, moving to 23-0 with a 77-26 win at Legacy Christian Academy in Andover on Tuesday night. Three regular-season games remain before the Class 2A Section 6 playoffs. If all goes exceedingly well, Royalton could make the school’s first trip to the girls state basketball tournament. And what a family celebration that would be.

Brad and Britt grew up in gyms during their dad’s lengthy and successful career as a head coach. Starting in 1979, he was the head boys coach at North Branch for 31 years before retiring in 2010. He returned to the game two years later as an assistant to Cambridge-Isanti boys coach Mike McDonald. Five years ago, Bill joined Britt on the staff at Royalton, where Brad is in his eighth year as head coach.

The Baumann boys were star athletes themselves. Brad earned 10 varsity letters at North Branch in basketball, football and baseball and was all-conference in each sport. An all-state basketball player, he is a member of the North Branch High School Athletic Hall of Fame, as are his dad and brother.

Britt played basketball, football (all-state kicker) and tennis (conference singles champion) at North Branch and was a four-year starter in football at Minnesota-Duluth. Along with the North Branch Hall of Fame, Bill is also a member of the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

All three can be quite calm and measured on the bench. Tuesday’s win lacked drama, with the Royals scoring the first 23 points of the game. Royalton is a young team, with 6-foot-1 Addison Schoenrock the only senior. Against Legacy Christian, 5-foot-5 eighth-grade guard Chloe Reedy had a game-high 25 points, junior Madison Albright had 15 and sophomore Alise Schoenrock 13.

“Coming in, I knew we could be good this year,” Brad Baumann said. “We had a good, young group last year, they developed even more over the summer, and that's just kind of carried us all through the season.”

Royalton is one of just three Class 2A teams that have not lost this season. The others are Providence Academy (ranked No. 1 in 2A) and Crosby-Ironton (No. 2). The Royals are not among the top 10 in the 2A rankings, which may be an oversight.

Bill Baumann, 73, is a volunteer coach. Being retired, he chips in however he can, including watching film and preparing scouting reports. The Royals offensive and defensive frameworks are familiar to all three coaches.

“It’s the same system we used at North Branch and we used a lot of it at Cambridge-Isanti,” Bill said. “It's kind of funny, because we'll sit there and go, ‘Remember when we ran that back in 2000 or whatever.’ ”

Bill said his duties also include supplying post-practice snacks on designated snack days and posting the “riddle of the day.”

The players usually refer to the coaches as Coach Brad, Coach Britt and Coach Bill, although the oldest of the three is sometimes called Grandpa Bill.

“It's kind of like when we played for him, with a little bit of a different dynamic,” said Brad, 43. "It's nice because we know each other so well that I know I can go to either one of them and they're going to be able to help me out. And then we have our moments where we're all kind of stubborn, but it makes it fun. It's just really enjoyable to have them around all the time.”

Bill and Carol took a winter trip to Florida after he retired at North Branch (where he also was athletic director from 1987 to 1995). But those sojourns are off the table these days, with a basketball season that could last well into March. Brad and his wife Tyra have a daughter, Beckett, who is an eighth-grader, and her grandparents stay busy watching her play volleyball and basketball.

Asked about the coaching dynamics, all three Baumanns said there rarely is any friction.

“It's great,” said Britt, 39. “You don't always get to spend time with family, and it's a good way to spend that little more time. We grew up with each other in dad's system, and now it just kind of rolled over all into one. We played in the system, so we kind of know it, and then we can relate it that way with the girls. We might butt heads at time, but we just have a good time being around each other.”

Carol, who has been keeping the Royals scorebook for five years, is familiar with such duties. She did the same at North Branch and also was the clock operator for many years there.

She has a ringside seat in watching her husband and their two children work together.

“These three get along pretty well,” she said. “It can be pretty comical at times, but they’re really great together. They support each other and it's really fun to see.”

--See more photos on the MSHSL Facebook page.

--MSHSL staff member John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Bluesky at johnmilleamn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at [email protected] or [email protected]