GREEN BAY – When looking at the landscape of women’s college basketball, few teams have consistently demonstrated the level of excellence that the UW-Green Bay Phoenix has over the course of their program’s history.

Formed under the leadership of Carol Hammerle in 1973, the team would exist under the NAIA before transitioning to NCAA Division I, 14 years later in 1987.

From there, the team earned their first March Madness berth under Hammerle in 1994, going on to make 21 appearances, including a Sweet 16 run in 2011 under Coach Matt Bollant.

Amongst the winning seasons and the strong basketball culture at UW-Green Bay, the one thing that makes them incredibly unique is the community that has been built around the team.

In 53 years as a basketball program, the school has only had four coaches, working out to be well over the average length of tenure of the typical Division I coach.

Under the four coaches, the team has maintained a winning culture and it’s clear that the university has built bonds between not just the alumni, but also the four coaches that have all had the reins of the team — Carol Hammerle, Matt Bollant, Kevin Borseth and Kayla Karius.

Legends Dinner

On Tuesday, July 28, the school hosted their “Legends Dinner,” attended by a number of people involved in the success of the school and headlined by speeches from all four coaches.
Hammerle took note of the leadership that the team has had over the 53 years — praising current Coach Kayla Karius for the work she has done with the program in her first two years as head coach, saying, “Green Bay is one of only two programs in two years that has not had any player go through the portal. [...] With that being said, I don’t really think I need to say any more.”

It was clear throughout the night that the success of the school did not just lie in the hands of the players and coaches, though.

Coach Matt Bollant, who coached the team to their only Sweet 16 appearance, said, “Who else has got 2,000 fans coming to every game, who else has got boosters [like UW-Green Bay]? The culture is really special.”

This high appraisal of the program’s culture held true when talking to longtime coach Kevin Borseth about his distinguished tenure at Green Bay.

When speaking about his return to the UW-Green Bay after a stint as the coach for the University of Michigan’s women’s team, he remarked, “Coming back to Green Bay was a no-brainer. It was the only job I would’ve taken.”

Looking at the present success of this program, it is fair to say that these previous coaches, as well as the UW-Green Bay community as a whole, are very confident in Coach Karius and her ability to continue to lead this team to future success.

After a strong season ending in an appearance as the 13th seed in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Karius was given a four-year extension to her contract, which will now run through the 2034-35 season.

All in all, the future is bright for the Green Bay Phoenix, as they are poised to continue dominating the Horizon League conference play and make noise in the NCAA tournament for years to come.