By MIKE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
The Stevens Point Area Senior High boys basketball team's new coach isn't worried about making the jump from a small Division 4 high school to one of the largest schools in the state.
"Not at all," said Dan Fink, the new Panthers coach. "I think wherever you go kids are kids and athletes are athletes."
"After playing college basketball, I'm used to a big setting so it won't be a difficult transition for me."
Fink, who coached the Pecatonica High team for three years, is replacing Bob Schultz as SPASH's head coach. Pecatonica, located in Blanchardville, is about 35 miles southwest of Madison and has an enrollment of 179 students.
Fink played for five years at Edgewood College in Madison and was an assistant coach at the school for two years. He has worked as a coach at prestigious basketball camps for several years. He has coached at Dick Bennett's Basketball Camp since 1995 and at Bo Ryan's Pioneer Basketball Camp for three years.
While working at Edgewood College and at the Bennett and Ryan camps, Fink refined the style of play that he will bring to SPASH.
"What I've learned is sound defense and fundamentals are important," said Fink, who will teach seventh-and eight-grade social studies at P.J. Jacobs. "I've learned that you win with good people."
"We're going to really concentrate on the defensive end," he added. "We're going to be a motion orientated team. We're going to run in transition quite a bit but we're going to run smart and stay under control."
At Pecatonica, Fink's teams had a 46-24 record over three seasons. His 1998-99 team was 19-6 and won its WIAA regional title before falling in the sectional final. The 1997-98 team was a regional champion as well, finishing 17-7. Last year, Pecatonica finished 10-11.
While at Edgewood, Fink worked under coach Steve Larson. He was the head junior varsity coach in 1996-97, leading his team to a 14-6 mark. He was the program's recruiting coordinator and lead scout as well.
In his playing days from 1990-95, Fink won four conference titles and he was on two teams that qualified for the national tournament. He was the team captain in 1995 and also received the team's "Mr. Hustle" award his senior season.
Fink said building the program by working with the youth basketball programs is important. He has talked with assistant coach John Schell a few times since he applied for the job, he said.
"I'm very honored with the opportunity. I didn't know if it would happen but I'm happy to have the chance to work with the team and the community," Fink said. "The staff is all intact, so I'm very excited to work with that."
Fink realizes he has some big shoes to fill. The Panthers won the last two Wisconsin Valley Conference titles under Schultz and he led SPASH to a state championship in 1993-94. Before Schultz, Schell was the longtime coach of the Panthers.
"They've always been well-coached," Fink said. "I don't think I could walk into a better opportunity than after those two gentlemen. They're great steps to walk into - that's no doubt."