Brad Soderberg, who grew up in Stevens Point, is the new head basketball coach of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, apparently the highest profile coaching job achieved by a person who grew up here.
Soderberg, who graduated from Pacelli High School in 1980 and then received his bachelor's degree from the UW-Stevens Point, takes over from Dick Bennett, his former coach at UW-SP, who retired on Thursday, Nov. 30. Soderberg played for Bennett from 1982-84.
Bennett got his collegiate coaching career off the ground at UW-SP, compiling a 174-79 record (.688 percentage) in his nine seasons. In his final four seasons, his teams finished 101-19 (.841). His 1983-84 team, which included Soderberg at point guard, was the NAIA national runner-up and Bennett was named the NAIA National Coach of the Year.
Now UW-SP is coached by Bennett's younger brother, Jack.
Soderberg joined Bennett's staff at Madison in April of 1995 after holding the head coach position for two seasons at South Dakota State. After playing for Bennett at UW-SP, he was an assistant coach for the Pointers in 1984-85. He then was a graduate assistant coach at Colorado State (1985-86) and an assistant coach at Fort Hays State (1986-87). During the 1987-88 season, he was an assistant at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, and he became the head coach the next season.
In his five-year stint at Loras, from 1988-93, he led the Duhawks to a 79-45 (.637) record. Loras was runner-up in the 1992 National Catholic Basketball Tournament and Soderberg was named the tournament coach of the year.
His teams were 36-18 (.667) in his two years at South Dakota State.
On Oct. 7, Soderberg, a member of the Pacelli class of 1980, was inducted into the Pacelli Athletic Hall of Fame, along with his father, Don, who coached him at Pacelli.
In football, Soderberg was All-CWCC as a quarterback and defensive back as a junior and senior. In basketball, he was All-CWCC twice and Player of the Year as a senior. He finished his career with 461 points. His 289 assists are the top mark in Cardinal history, and his 130 assists during the 1979-80 season still stands as the all-time single-season record.
He and his wife, Linda, have three children and reside in Madison.
Soderberg becomes the third person with Stevens Point ties to become coach at UW-Madison. John Erickson, a coach at P.J. Jacobs High School in the late 1940s, coached the Badgers in the 1950s and 1960s.
Soderberg apparently reached the pinnacle of coaches who grew up in Portage County. Most of the coaches who attained high profile jobs were coaches who worked at area schools or who attended UW-SP. Besides Erickson and Bennett, Bill Knapton coached in Stevens Point before serving at Beloit College.
The county has other connections among sports administrators.
Bob Whitsitt, president of both the NFL Seattle Seahawks and the NBA Seattle Supersonics, is a 1977 UW-SP graduate. Chuck Niehaus, a UW-SP graduate from Marshfield, served as commissioner of the then-Big 8 Conference for Oklahoma and Kansas and other schools in that area.