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Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association announces High School and College Coach of the Year recipients

04/26/2021, 2:15pm CDT
By Travis Wilson

The Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association has announced high school and college coach of the year recipients as well as college player of the year information.

Nick Bennett of Racine St. Catherine's and Otto Hopfinger of Hustisford have been named co-Coaches of the Year in boys basketball. St. Catherine's was a wire-to-wire number one team in the WisSports.net Boys Basketball Coaches Poll, capping off a 28-1 season with a Division 3 state championship. The Angels beat Wrightstown 53-44 in a state semi-final before taking down Lake Country Lutheran 68-49 in the title game. 

Hustisford emerged as a favorite in the reconfigured Division 5, and the Falcons put on a show at the state tournament in La Crosse. After getting past Wauzeka-Steuben 65-53 in the semi-finals, Hustisford posted a dominating 69-35 win against McDonell Central to claim the title. It was the program's first state tournament appearance.

After guiding Lake Mills to a 25-2 record and the Division 3 state championship, its first in school history, Brandon Siska was named the Girls Basketball Coach of the Year by the WBCA. The L-Cats had an impressive run to the title, defeating Prairie du Chien, Marshall, Howards Grove, and Aquinas in a span of nine days. All were ranked in the top ten at the time. 

Greg Gard from the University of Wisconsin was named the Division 1 Men's Coach of the Year, while Kyle Rechlicz of UW-Milwaukee was selected as the Division 1 Women's Coach of the Year. 

The full list of High School and College Coach of the Year plus College Player of the Year recipients is below.

High School and College Coach of the Year Winners

High School Boys: Nick Bennett, St. Catherine’s and Otto Hopfinger, Hustisford (Co-Winners)
High School Girls: Brandon Siska, Lake Mills
College D1-Men: Greg Gard, UW-Madison
College D1-Women: Kyle Rechlicz, UW-Milwaukee
College D2-3 Men: Jeff Gard, UW-Platteville
College D2-3 Women: Brad Fischer, UW-Oshkosh
College Staff of the Year D1 Men: UW-Madison Staff
College Staff of the Year D1 Women: UW-Milwaukee Staff
College Staff of the Year D2-3 Men: UW-Platteville Staff
College Staff of the Year D2-3 Women: UW-Oshkosh Staff
 

College Player of the Year Recipients

College Player of the Year D1 Men: D’Mitrick Trice, UW-Madison
College Player of the Year D1 Women: Selena Lott, Marquette
College Player of the Year D2-Men: Patrick Cartier, Hillsdale College (Brookfield East HS)
College Player of the Year D2 Women: Brooke Olson, Minnesota-Duluth (Rice Lake HS)
College Player of the Year D3 Men (Public): Wyatt Cook, UW-La Crosse (Pewaukee HS)
College Player of the Year D3 Men (Private): Jake Negus, Madison Edgewood College (Janesville Craig HS)
College Player of the Year D3 Women (Public): Leah Porath, UW-Oshkosh (New London HS)
College Player of the Year D3 Women (Private): Alyssa Lemirande, Madison Edgewood College (Middleton HS)


About the Author

Travis Wilson serves as the WisSports.net General Manager, Football Editor, and contributing writer for other parts of the site. Wilson was selected as part of the Sports 40 Under 40 list by Coach & AD Magazine and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association for 2019. The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) named Travis the 2015 recipient of the Dave McClain Distinguished Service Award. He currently serves on the WFCA Executive Board and is a member of the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. A graduate of Richland Center High School and Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Travis was a three-sport athlete in high school (football, baseball, basketball), inducted to the Richland Center High School Hall of Fame in 2023, and currently resides in Reedsburg. You can follow him on Twitter at @travisWSN.

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