When it came to basketball in Minnesota, whether it was at the NBA, college or high school levels, just about everyone was touched by Flip Saunders.
He was the greatest coach in Timberwolves history who coached the franchise's greatest player, Kevin Garnett, and the two of them led the team to its greatest moment, a trip to the Western Conference Finals team.
He was a Gopher lifer, playing alongside legends like Kevin McHale and Mychal Thompson, coaching on the staff that won a Big Ten title and having his own children attend the U.
Everyone seemed to know or love "Flip," so many hearts were heavy Sunday when Saunders died after a four-month battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma.