Jim Lawinger
Jim Lawinger

Bio

Jim “Louie” Lawinger enters his fourth season as an assistant coach at UW Platteville under Coach Jeff Gard.

“Jim’s passion for the Pioneers and this community, along with his knowledge as a coach and teacher, will be a benefit to this program both on and off the floor,” Gard said. “Coach Lou is an excellent teacher of the fundamentals, and the experience he gained at his previous stops will be invaluable here at UW-Platteville.”

Lawinger, a Platteville native and a UWP graduate in 1972, was a three-sport star at UWP. He excelled in basketball, football, and track, earning All-Conference honors in all three sports. Jim was inducted into the UWP Hall of Fame in 1989, and was also inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Hall of Fame in the Outstanding Player category.

Lawinger taught technical education and coached football, basketball and softball for 38 years at Sussex Hamilton High School in Sussex, Wisconsin. From 2004-2014, he was a varsity assistant basketball coach at Germantown High School, helping them win three straight state championships.

Jim and his wife Donna live in Platteville and have a daughter Jaime Lawinger-Chmielewski of Oregon, and a son Jess (Jessica) Lawinger of Madison. Louie and Donna have two grandsons, Jacob and Joshua Bell.