Northern State University Athletics

Lance Luitjens earned a Bachelor of Science in Education in elementary education in 1996. While at Northern, Luitjens was a member of the men's basketball team. The Wolves were the 1993 and 1994 NAIA National Runners-up going 59-11 overall in those two seasons. As a sophomore, he was the team’s third leading scorer. Luitjens was named an NAIA All-American in 1995 as the Wolves advanced to the national tournament semi-finals. He was also selected to the 1995 and 1996 NSIC All-Conference teams. In 1996 he was awarded the Dr. William Britton Scholar-Athlete Award for Academic Excellence by the NSIC and the NSU Clark Swisher Award. Luitjens currently sits 11th all-time in career scoring with 1,708 points.

Following graduation Luitjens has been honored as the Region Coach of the Year in 2000 for Girls' Basketball, State Championship Runner-Up in 2000 as a coach in Vermillion, Rural Principal of the Year Finalist for Colorado in 2009, Principal of the Year Finalist for Colorado in 2010, and the Governor's Distinguished Improvement Award in 2011. Luitjens is currently the assistant principal at Sioux Falls Lincoln High School and is married to Renae (Osthus), who graduated from Northern in 1995. They have two children.
Luitjens was inducted into the Northern State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017.