1998-99 championship team to be inducted

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. —The 1998-99 University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team, the last Pioneer squad to win an NCAA Division III national championship, will be inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame on Sunday, May 3. 

The induction ceremony will be in Williams Fieldhouse on Bo Ryan Court, named after the coach who led the Pioneers to the 1999 national championship victory in his final game on the UW-Platteville sidelines.

The Pioneers were 30-2 and won an unprecedented fifth consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference outright championship. UW-Platteville then won six national playoff games, culminating with a 76-75 double-overtime victory over Hampden-Sydney (Va.) in the championship contest, held in Salem, Va.

The Pioneers finished the 1990s with the best record in all of college basketball at 266-27. Their 90.8 winning percentage topped the runners-up University of Kentucky and Kansas University for the best 10-year record.

Ryan concluded his Pioneer career with a 353-76 record, the best winning percentage in NCAA III history, and earned national championships in 1991, 1995, 1998 and 1999. The other three national championship teams previously were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame.

This year's induction ceremony begins with registration and hors d'oueuvres at 1:30 p.m. with the ceremony at 2:30 p.m. For more information, contact Alumni Services at alumni@uwplatt.edu or 608.342.1181.

1998-99 UW-Platteville Pioneers

Players: Joel Beard, Brian Berger, Mario Boyd, Merrill Brunson, Beau Buchs, William Carter, Tim Duffy, Colin Gassner, Jeremy Harrison, Mike Jones, Kyle Kneser, Blake Knutson, Brian Murphy, Nicholas Nordin, Aaron Olson, William Ryan, Ben Schambow, Tyler Selk, Brad Stangel, Bryan Stangel, Dan Wargolet

Coaches: Bo Ryan, Greg Gard, Todd Landrum, Aaron Lancaster, Luke Reigel, Frank Cheeck (academics), Mark Molesworth (athletic director)

All-Purpose Student Personnel: Rob Callahan, Angela (Wilson) Crowley, Kathy Ebben, Krayton Nash, Jeff Niesen