Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference

Dean Bowyer is a native of the small northwest town Ada, Minn. He received his B.S. degree in physical education and elementary education from Mayville State in 1966 and his Master’s from Mankato State in 1971. Prior to working on his master’s, Bowyer coached basketball and football at Barnesville, Appleton, and Benson High Schools. He also played professionally in the Baltimore Orioles organization for three seasons and was an all-conference and all-district football player at Mayville State, where he also played baseball and basketball. Bowyer was inducted into the Mayville State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984 and built a 74-51 record in four years as head coach at Minot State prior to joining MSU in 1977.
He completed his collegiate coaching career in 2008 with a 1064-538-7 overall record in 32 years. He ranks fifth on the NCAA Division II all-time coaching wins list and led the Mavericks to 20 NCAA postseason appearances.
Led by Bowyer, Minnesota State (formerly Mankato State) captured Northern Intercollegiate Conference baseball championships in 1979, 1980 and 1981. The Mavericks made three NCAA postseason tournament appearances during that time (1978, 1979 and 1980) and captured two NCAA regional titles (1979 and 1980). MSU went 3-0 in regional action in 1979 and went on to post a fourth-place finish at the NCAA national tournament. The 1980 team earned the regional title with a 4-1 mark and then went 2-2 at the national tournament to finish third nationally. Bowyer was a two-time NCAA Midwest Region Coach of the Year during this time (1979 and 1980) and guided the Mavericks to a 123-57-2 won-loss record in four seasons in the NIC (1978-81). He also was a graduate assistant coach with the 1971 MSU baseball team that captured the NIC and NCAA regional championships and went on to post a fourth-place finish at the national tournament.