By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
SUAMICO – Hot off her Division 1 soccer commitment to Drake University, Bay Port girls’ basketball player Emma Nagel is turning heads statewide in her other sport.
The junior Nagel was recently named to the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association first-team all-state list after helping lead the Pirates to the WIAA Division 1 title March 9.
Nagel is just one of four juniors on the list, with the other six being seniors.
She averaged 13.4 points, 11 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.9 steals and 1.1 blocks per game for the 27-1 Pirates.
Nagel’s 309 rebounds this season set the all-time single-season record at Bay Port, and she is already the career leader in steals with 181.
After finishing state runner-up at the 2017 state soccer tournament, Nagel and her teammates took home the title a season ago.
She was named first-team all-state in soccer after her sophomore year.
With so many options in both sports, Nagel is committed to playing soccer at the next level.
“I’ve been asked that question so many times,” Nagel said after the state basketball tournament. “It has definitely crossed my mind to play two sports in college, but I think I’ll just stick to one.”
Even though soccer is her focus, Nagel is looking forward to her senior season in basketball starting later this year.
“I’m really excited for our next basketball season,” she said. “It’s going to be a hard one for me knowing that the next time after my senior season that I’ll be playing basketball will be a pick-up game at a gym. I’m so glad I am playing this sport.”
Head coach Kati Coleman played Division 1 basketball herself at UW-Green Bay after a standout career at Ashwaubenon High School.
She likes the fact that Nagel and many of the other girls on the team are not solely one-sport athletes.
“We have 14 girls on our roster and probably 10 of them play two sports,” Coleman said. “Girls that are out there that feel they have to specialize in one sport – Emma has won two gold balls in two sports.