Episode #94 - John Oxton (Former Lakeville North Boys Basketball Coach) Artwork

The Bare's Den w/ Matt Bare

The Bare's Den Podcast is hosted by Matt Bare and this podcast will be an interview style podcast having conversations with coaches, players and friends of the basketball community. I also hope to connect with people from other sports down the road. I’ll focus on interesting stories that have happened around the state and hopefully the country as well. I hope to share the path of many of these guests and how they got to be where they are today. The goal is to connect with you to share interesting stories and perspectives about a particular event, person or team.

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The Bare's Den w/ Matt Bare

Episode #94 - John Oxton (Former Lakeville North Boys Basketball Coach)

June 17, 2025 • Matt Bare • Episode 94

For this episode I’m joined by one of the best Minnesota boys high school basketball coaches to ever pace the sidelines. John Oxton led the Lakeville North boys basketball program for 33 seasons, appearing in 12 state tournaments, capturing the 2014 class 4A state championship and finishing his career with 706 wins currently leaving him with the 6th most wins in state history.

Prior to arriving in Lakeville, “Ox” was the head coach for Gardiner High School in Montana and led them to a state championship in 1989 and he also won a state title as a player for Fargo North High School in North Dakota. We cover a number of topics including his two-year coaching sabbatical that he took at Lakeville to watch his daughter play high school basketball, JP Macura and the 2014 state title team and how so many Lakeville North players ended up at Wisconsin.