Great Week of Basketball

As is usually the case in mid-November, I spend a week touring our state and watching as many basketball games as I can while trying to see each of our scholarship teams as well as our professional teams very early in the season.

Thus far, I have seen .....

Sunday, November 15

UW-Parkside hosted Concordia University (NCAA Division III - Mequon, Wisconsin) at DeSimone Gymnasium with a 12:00 noon start. The Rangers only suited up nine healthy bodies which seemed a little odd and stuck out immediately. Coach Reigel basically played 7 players the entire game.

The game was competitive but I don't believe neither team played their best basketball and left with many questions to be answered. I don't think either team ever had a lead greater than 10 points from what I can remember.

Falcon forward Tyler Granrath (6-2, G, Port Washington) scored a few baskets but, more impressively, he made an amazing 17 of 19 free throws besides pulling down 10 defensive rebounds. Kyle Barth (6-6, F, Wautoma) also added 19 points. Concordia outrebounded Parkside 39-31 if the end-of-the-game stats sheet was accurate. The Rangers will have to improve upon that stat quickly or it's going to be a very long year within the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Three Parkside players eventually fouled out (Sam Katula, Zach Blesich and Jeremy Saffold). Grant Johnson scored 29 points for UWP on the day including a 3-point shot at the end of regulation that sent the game into overtime.

Obviously, this was a huge win for Concordia and a very big loss for Parkside. The Rangers are the only NCAA Division II school located in Wisconsin and, therefore, they need to win games against any NCAA Division III school that they play...especially those schools from Wisconsin.

A very special thank you to Coach Reigel, Coach Wolfe and the UWP staff for the great seats. Sheldon Cooks (2012, 6-7, F, Kenosha Bradford), C.J. Malone (2012, 5-10, G, Menomonee Falls) and Nic Stokes (2012, 6-0, G, Milwaukee Rufus King) also attended this game and had a chance to meet with the UWP coaching staff following the tough loss.


Monday, November 16

The Dallas Maverick's came to the Bradley Center for the final game of their 4-game roadtrip to visit our Milwaukee Bucks. Dallas has been playing good basketball early in the season and certainly provided the young Bucks a stiff test early in the season.

The Bucks did not play with enough intensity on defense in the first half. This sesms to be an early season trend with our team. The Mavs led after the first quarter by like 7 and stretched their lead at the half to 12 points

One of the things I've picked up on early after attending a couple of Bucks games is the fan support and love for rookie Brandon Jennings. I was able to coach Brandon at the 2007 Reebok All American Camp. He also played for our 10U coach and current Milwaukee Hamilton varsity coach, Tom Diener as well as Rufus King head coach, Jim Gosz during the 2008 McDonald's All-American Game which was held here in Milwaukee at the Bradley Center.

Brandon is so quick and he is able to attack gaps with limited space. He left a lot on the table defensively when he played on the grassroots circuit but I can see immediately that his year spent overseas really forced him to play harder on both ends of the floor.

The game came down to the final possession in the 4th Quarter and every single person in the Bradley Center knew where the ball was going. Dirk Nowitski did not disappoint hitting a tough fadeaway jumper and giving the Mavs the win. Dirk ended up with 32 points for the night.

Coach Skiles has the Bucks playing harder and I believe that they will improve quit a bit over the next five months.


Tuesday, November 17

I was back at the Bradley Center for the Marquette game as the Golden Eagles hosted Maryland Eastern Shore. I saw plenty of familiar faces in the crowd as many grassroots coaches and support personnel were in attendance as well.

Lazar Hayward filled the stat sheet in this one folks. The senior and best collegiate player currently playing in the state of Wisconsin on any team had a career high 28 points to go along with a team high 8 rebounds. We all know that Lazar can play but he is going to have some big nights this season if the Golden Eagles are going to win a lot of games.

Jimmy Butler has kind of become "Robin" to Lazar's "Batman" this season. I really enjoy watching Butler play. He is long and skilled and rarely seems to try to do more than he is actually capable of.

The senior guards, David Cubillan and Maurice Acker, are making the most of their final season. These two guys have been through a lot over the years and you just feel obligated to really cheer them on.

Of course, Jeronne Maymon continues to play well in spurts. He will be a major factor in Marquette's ability to rebound against larger teams in the Big East. I expect Jeronne's role on the team to increase in the months to come.

A special thanks to Coach Williams, Coach Autry and Coach Collins for the fantastic seats. Nic Stokes (2012, 6-0, G, Milwaukee Rufus King) and Nathan Tanguay (2013, 6-4, F, Mukwonago) also attended this game and had a chance to meet with the Marquette coaching staff following the Golden Eagles victory.


Wednesday, November 18

I made the trip with my wife over to Madison for the Badgers game against Oakland. The Grizzlies are favored to win the Summit League this season. Our good friend, Kevin Scharnek and his son Chase also joined us for the game.

We rolled into the Kohl Center a little early to spend some time with some of the famlies of my former players. It is always great to keep in touch with each family as the relationships that we build every season within our grassroots program are so special to me and my family.

I ran into Ed Andrist prior to the game. He is the head coach at UW-Stout and a good friend. I have been lucky enough to speak at his fall clinic several times in the past couple of years. I continue to follow his teams closely and always hope for the best for Coach Andrist.

I also ran into James Adams before the game. Coach Adams has been with several AAU programs over the past decade including the Madison Spartans, Wisconsin Force, Mad Town Tarheels, etc. He has now started a brand new organization called the Wisconsin Starz. I made sure to wish him well in this new endeavor and he is very committed to building a top notch program this season. Coach Adams also coaches the JV at Oregon High School and works as a DJ during his spare time.

James' best team was probably his Wisconsin Foce team (Class of 2007) led by Will Hudson (6-9, F, Middleton HS). That team won a lot of games and did very well nationally. We knocked them out in the state tournament for three straight years and the games were not really close. Will now is the starting power forward for Oakland. He had a great showing of family and friends in attendance to watch him play.

Many people asked me throughout the night why I didn't ask Will to play on my team. I actually did ask him to play but told both Will and his parents that playing time would be limited. We started Cole Aldrich (Kansas, 6-11, C, Bloomington Jefferson/MN Player of the Year) and Keaton Nankivil (Wisconsin, 6-8, F, Madison Memorial) inside on our team. Cole is a lottery pick this spring and Keaton simply was the best post player in Wisconsin in that class. Keaton also played very, very well against Will in their respective head-to-head matchups over the years. I also had Andrew Zimmermann (Stanford, 6-9, F, Oostburg) and Matt Dorlack (Eastern Illinois, 6-11, C, New Berlin Eisenhower) coming off the bench. Andrew was the smartest player I have ever had and knew our stuff so well that he played significant minutes for me.

Kevin Bavery, the head coach at Middleton High School was also there to support Will Hudson. Kevin is another very close personal friend. I always learn something when given the chance to speak with Coach Bavery.

Neither team played very well in this game. Oakland will need to play much better to accomplish their preseason goals of winning the Summit League and advancing to the NCAA tournament.

The Badgers were still way too careless with the basketball. Until they learn to value the ball more, they will struggle against good pressure. I have to believe that Arizona and the teams scheduled to be in Maui next week most certainly will pick up the defensive pressure against Wisconsin.

I would should mention how cool it was to see J.D. Wise on the bench and suited up. J.D. is a very bright kid and always told us that he wanted to go to a "good academic" school and that a scholarship was not the most important thing to him. I'm so happy that he's earned the right to be on the team as a walkon.

As usual, it was also very nice to speak with Trevon Hughes, J.P. Gavinski, Tim Jarmusz and Keaton Nankivil after the game. I took both Kevin & Chase back into the lockerroom and we got plenty of quality pictures.

Oh yeah, Wisconsin won the basketball game as well by a score of 58-42. Keaton and Trevon both played solid. Keaton 13 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 steals. Trevon led UW in scoring with 15 points and added a career high 7 rebounds.


After attending so many games (11/13 @ Marquette; 11/14 @ Wisconsin Football; 11/15 @ UW-Parkside; 11/16 @ Milwaukee Bucks; 11/17 @ Marquette and 11/18 @ Wisconsin), I decided to take Thursday night off even though I was eyeing up some interesting NCAA Division III games including UW-Oshkosh @ Lawrence. I am also spending this Friday night with family as it's my mother-in-law's birthday.

On Saturday, I will complete the week by traveling up to the Resch Center to watch UW-Green Bay host Long Beach State. Go Phoenix!!!

High School Basketball Practice Begins

Greetings to everyone from Pewaukee as the high school basketball season begins today. All of our players had tryouts this morning or will have them this afternoon after school and I could feel the excitement in every conversation I had with each and everyone of them. High school basketball is such a special part of so many students’ lives that I find myself looking back with many fond memories of my very own high school playing days at Bloomer High School. Conference championships, state tournament experience and all those bus rides bring a huge smile to my face.

Good luck to all of the players, coaches and support personnel as you begin what hopefully is a very successful season.

College Season Begins Tonight

The college basketball season tips off this evening for three of Wisconsin's five scholarship institutions. Marquette (NCAA Division I - Big East Conference) is hosting Centenary at the Bradley Center while Milwaukee (NCAA Division I - Horizon League) welcomes Concordia-St. Paul across the street at U.S. Cellular Arena. Green Bay (NCAA Division I - Horizon League) is playing against UAB tonight in Kent, Ohio while taking part in the Hispanic College Fund Classic.

The state's other two scholarship institutions open up on Sunday. Wisconsin (NCAA Division I - Big Ten Conference) welcomes IPFW to the Kohl Center while UW-Parkside (Great Lakes Valley Conference) begins the season at home against Concordia-Wisconsin (Mequon).

I will be at the Bradley Center taking in the Marquette game with some of my current players. The MU coaching staff has been kind enough to invite Jean-Pierre Tokoto (Menomonee Falls), Wally Ellenson (Eau Claire Memorial), Nick Arenz (Onalaska), Jamar "Popcorn" Morris (Madison Memorial) and Bronson Koenig (La Crosse Aquinas). I am interested to watch Jerrone Maymon (2009 - Madison Memorial) play especially. Jerrone DID play with our organization in a few select events during the summer of 2007 at the 16U level. He is the only player currently on the Marquette roster to have ever worn a Playground Warriors jersey.

Coach Jeter and his staff at Milwaukee were also kind enough to invite some of our players to see their opening game of the season. Trevor Jorgenson (La Crosse Logan), Connor Miller (Eau Claire Regis), Sheldon Cooks (Kenosha Bradford), Sam Dekker (Sheboygan Lutheran), C.J. Malone (Menomonee Falls), Sawyer Mosley (Port Washington), Nic Stokes (Milwaukee Rufus King), Brett Vandenbergh (De Pere) and Austin Mecca (Manitowoc Lincoln) will all be in attednace tonight to see the Panthers play. Our guys will be cheering extra loud for former PGC standouts Anthony Hill (2007 - Milwaukee Bradley Tech) and Christian Wolf (2008 - Kohler). Anthony and Christian are the only two PGC alumni playing for the Panthers this season.

I will be doing my best to follow the Green Bay and Milwaukee games closely via my phone throughout the night. Hopefully, all three teams start their seasons with impressive victories. My most sincere interest when following the Green Bay team will be with Cordero Barkley (2005 - Racine Saint Catherine's). Due to an injury, Cordero was unable to play with the team last season. He has worked extremely hard to get back to this point tonight and I know he will make the most of the season. Bryquis Perine (2007 - Milwaukee Harold S. Vincent) also played for me during his 14U, 15U and 16U seasons. I wish Bryquis the very best of luck this season as he is poised for success with an expanded role.

On Sunday, I will be making the trip to Kenosha to see Coach Reigel and the Parkside Rangers start their season. UW-Parkside is the only NCAA Division II school located in the state of Wisconsin. Coach Reigel, Coach Wolfe and the entire UWP staff do a fantastic job of trying to build their program with "Wisconsin kids" and therefore, I make it a point to support their program whenever possible. Parkside redshirt freshmen, Steve Jaskulske (2008 - Racine J.I. Case) is the only former PGC player suiting up for the Rangers this season. I truly believe that Steve will enjoy a very fun and successful career at UW-Parkside.

Finally, Coach Ryan and the Badgers begin their 2009-2010 season this Sunday. None of our current players will be attending this game. Wisconsin's roster contains five players have played for me and/or the Playground Warriors including three starters. Trevon Hughes (2006 - Delafield St. John's Northwestern Military Academy), Tim Jarmusz (2007 - Oshkosh West) and Keaton Nankivil (2007 - Madison Memorial) will all be on the floor for the opening tip. I am very proud of all three of these players and both Tim and Keaton were certainly a significant part of one of the greatest AAU teams ever assembled in this state top to bottom (12 players). J.P. Gavinski (2006 - Wisconsin Dells) and J.D. Wise (2008 - Whitefish Bay Dominican) are also part of the Wisconsin men's basketball team this year.


Off topic slightly...I am a very firm believer that each of these schools can actually play one another in some capacity EVERY single season!!! Wisconsin plays Marquette, Milwaukee and Green Bay every year. I think it's great that Coach Ryan plays one of the nine schools from the WIAC each season as well. If/when possible, I know they will schedule Parkside.

Marquette plays Wisconsin and Milwaukee now each year. The hot rumor floating around recently is that Marquette will finally resume playing Green Bay again beginning in 2011-2012. Coach Williams needs to include Green Bay on his schedule and Coach Kowalczyk needs to make sure that this game happens as well. I'd like to see Marquette play Parkside in an exhibition game on occassion too.

Green Bay and Milwaukee play one another twice each year as members of the Horizon League. The games are competitive and very exciting and the rivalry is genuine. Both schools play NCAA Division II schools again this year during the regular season. I'd love to see Milwaukee play Parkside in the regular season instead of an exhibition game but at least they play every year. Once again, Green Bay needs to add Parkside to their schedule. If UWGB can play Northern Michigan, then I see absolutely NO reason why the Phoenix can't schedule Parkside in some capacity.

Speaking of Parkside, the Rangers seem to play a few NCAA Division III schools every single year during the regular season. Wouldn't it be fun for fans around the state if Parkside were to play UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater every year? What about Carthage?


It's Friday and the weather is fantastic once again here in southeastern Wisconsin. Did I mention that I am making the trip on Saturday to Madison for Senior Day as our beloved football Badgers (only NCAA Division I team in Wisconsin) host Michigan in key game with Bowl implications looming. Let the weekend begin.....

PGC Players Sign National Letters of Intent

Congratulations to the following members of our current 19U team that signed their respective National Letters of Intent today. They include:

1. Anderson, Evan (6'11", C, Eau Claire North HS) -- WISCONSIN
2. Bray, T.J. (6'4", G, Waukesha Catholic Memorial HS) -- PRINCETON
3. Cerroni, Kameron (6'2", G, Sussex Hamilton HS) -- GREEN BAY
4. Cottrill, Noah (6'2", G, Logan HS) -- WEST VIRGINIA
5. Euton, Dakotah (6'8", F, Scott County HS) -- AKRON
6. Mills, Ben (7'1", F/C, Hartland Arrowhead HS) -- BOISE STATE
7. Pritzl, Brandon (6'2", G, De Pere HS) -- HILLSDALE
8. Schell, Derek (6'0", G, Waukesha Catholic Memorial HS) -- HILLSDALE


Each of the above eight young men have worked extremely hard both in the classroom and on the basketball court. As a result, they have earned the opportunity to play on a scholarship at the next level. On behalf of the entire PGC coaching and support staff, I want to personally wish them well in all of their future academic and basketball endeavors. We are SO proud of each of you!!

The only remaining senior on our team that has not yet made his future collegiate decision is Taylor Cameron (6'4", G, Oshkosh North HS). Taylor is still considering many schools including Wayne State (Nebraska) which is a NCAA Division II school and Wisconsin-Platteville which is a NCAA Division III school. I would like to personally wish Taylor and his family well as they continue on with the process of selecting the institution of higher learning that fits him best.

The other two players on our team are underclassmen and are also still going through the recruiting process. Trevor Jorgenson (2011, 6'7", F, La Crosse Logan HS) is considering many schools and currently has a scholarship offer from Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Trevor visited several schools this past fall and is looking forward to speaking with more programs this winter.

Jean-Pierre Tokoto (2012, 6'6", Wing, Menomonee Falls HS) is focusing on the upcoming high school season while still taking some time to get to know various coaching staffs and their programs. J.P. currently has scholarship offers from Duke, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Marquette, Minnesota, Tennessee and Wisconsin. Many, many additional schools attended J.P.'s workouts this fall during select open gyms and have indicated that they will be returning this winter to view J.P. during a Menomonee Falls varsity game.