Men's Basketball Announces Nike and US Sports Camps

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. - The UW-Platteville Men's Basketball team has experienced its fair share of excitement already in 2024. The year began with the Pioneers clinching a share of the WIAC Regular Season Championship with a win over Oshkosh on February 7 and that success continued into the conference tournament when Platteville beat River Falls on February 24 to clinch its fourth ever WIAC Tournament Championship.

The following week the awards started rolling in. Four Pioneers were honored with All-Conference recognition, as Logan Pearson and Max Love were named first team All-WIAC, and Brady Olson and Ben Probst were named honorable mention All-WIAC. Along with the All-Conference awards, Pearson was named WIAC Player of the Year, and Jeff Gard was named WIAC Coach of the Year.

This momentum carried the Pioneers into the NCAA tournament where Platteville hosted the first two rounds. In a fantastic environment with the stands packed on both nights, the Pioneers knocked off Bethany Lutheran on Friday before taking down Loras on Saturday. That win pushed Platteville into the Sweet 16 and a date with Case Western Reserve University. In an extremely well-played game, the Pioneers beat CWRU to set up a chance to advance to the Final 4. Unfortunately, Platteville suffered an overtime loss to Trine University, who went on to win the national title the following week.

Although the season came to an end, the recognition did not. Pearson was crowned Player of the Year for Region IX as well as first team All-Region, while Gard was named Region IX Coach of the year.  Shortly after, Pearson was also awarded D3hoops.com and NABC first team All-American, as well as NABC National Player of the Year.

It was no doubt a banner year on the court for UW-Platteville, and a recent partnership with Nike and US Sports Camps will only add to the excitement surrounding the program. This summer the Pioneers are teaming up with Nike to offer a brand-new camp experience for children in the area that have an interest in basketball. Campers will have the opportunity to work with Pioneer athletes and coaches to develop themselves as basketball players under the umbrella of the Nike logo. These camps are filling up fast, but anyone interested in registering can visit https://www.letsgopioneers.com/sports/mbkb/camps for more information and a chance to get registered today!