Girls Basketball: Red Wing’s Buck stays with Green Bay

Tesha Buck explored her options before coming to a decision.

When Matt Bollant left as head coach of the women’s basketball team at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, in March to take the same position at Illinois, Buck elected to honor her commitment to play for the Phoenix.

“She did (check other places),” Red Wing head coach Dave Muelken said. “She really liked Green Bay and I think it’s a great fit for her. She went out and met the new coach and once they did that, they still felt it was the right fit. The new coach coming in said, ‘Hey, we still want you here.’

“There’s a lot of familiarity there so she’s not starting over,” he added.

The Red Wing High School senior made it official Wednesday morning as she signed her national letter of intent to play basketball for Green Bay next winter. The Phoenix, a Division I school in the Horizon League, were voted the 25th-ranked team in the USA Today Coaches Poll in the preseason, and are currently unranked but receiving votes after starting the season with a 54-53 win over Northern Iowa.

“I’m excited to be there and actually focusing on the high school basketball season before,” Buck said. “I’ve obviously been counting down to this day and now that it’s over with I can focus on the high school season and go from there.”

Last year, Green Bay made the NCAA tournament, falling to second-seeded Kentucky 65-62 in the second round.

Despite Bollant leaving, Buck said the coaching staff was a big reason she stayed with the Phoenix. New head coach Kevin Borseth, who was head coach at Green Bay from 1998-2007 before taking over as head coach at the University of Michigan, contacted Buck immediately after returning. Assistant Coach Sarah Bronk, who recruited Buck heavily and attended multiple Red Wing games last season, remains on staff.

“I love the coaches there,” she said. “(Bollant) was a big part obviously, but there’s so much more to Green Bay than just one person. … It shows a lot that (the coaching staff) stayed there when they could have left with the head coach.”

Buck is the 72nd-ranked guard in the 2013 class according ESPN HoopGurlz Basketball and is the career leader in Red Wing girls basketball history with 1,678 points scored heading into this season.

She helped lead the Wingers back to the state tournament for the second consecutive season by scoring a team-high 17.4 points per game, and also led the team in assists with 4.19 a game and 3.48 steals per game. She also had 40 blocks and grabbed 6.19 rebounds per game to earn Associated Press All-State Honorable Mention in 2011-12 and a Republican Eagle First Team All-Area nomination.

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