Nate Malchow on his prolific prep hoops career & battling cancer

Nobody prepares to be diagnosed with cancer.   But nobody seems better equipped to handle and battle it than Nate Malchow.   After 40 years of competing and coaching sports (and some music) at a high level and with unrelenting focus and conviction, Malchow says he had the right mindset to tackle the chemotherapy, radiation, physical and mental fatigue, worries and doubts, and ability to keep loved ones uplifted.   The Sioux Falls Washington activities director details that experience with the same down-to-earth and exacting way he drew up game plans and inspired girls basketball players to reach their full potential when he was the Warriors' head coach from 2005-14.   In those nine years, Malchow turned a flattened program into a state powerhouse that won three titles and reached an additional championship game.   At 36, the former Aberdeen Central and Concordia-Moorhead post player stepped down from coaching to take the WHS A.D. job. Why?   With plenty of adversity and winning under his belt, Malchow told stories about these life events and more in an hour-plus conversation at Gibs Sports Bar in Sioux Falls, appropriately on the east side of the city, 2.5 miles from WHS.   He also had stories about being ACHS teammates with current Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel, and playing against some of the Universtiy of Minnesota players who led the Golden Gophers to the Final Four in 1997.   He also shared stories about his first coaching job as a graduate assistant for SDSU legend Scott Nagy, and his several years under Fred Tibbetts, one of the best girls' coaches in state history.    All along the way, you'll find out why Malchow had the fight in him to overcome cancer and far more basketball opponents that overcame him.