MONROE - Many players and coaches will contend basketball was a much different game a half century ago. There wasn't a 3-point line. There were no girls' sports. And there were no divisions based on enrollment.
Former Monroe boys basketball coach Lee Mitchell, to many, was ahead of his time. Mitchell coached the Monroe boys basketball team for 27 years starting with the 1947-48 season. He compiled a record of 386-217 and led Monroe to four of the Cheesemakers' 14 state tournament berths - including the state championship in 1965.
Mitchell was born and raised in Monroe. He played basketball for Monroe and then University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also served as a social studies teacher at the high school.
"Whether you liked him or not, he (Lee Mitchell) was an institution here," Monroe's Tom Mitchell said of his father. "He had been through the wars as a player and coach."
Monroe went through a stretch of about 10 years when it had six basketball players playing for teams in the Big Ten Conference. Keith Burington, who was the leading scorer for the Cheesemakers on the 1965 state championship team, credited Coach Mitchell for taking pressure off the team, considering it was ranked No. 1 from the start of the season to the end.
"Playing for Coach Mitchell was the highlight of my career," said Burington, who also went on to play for the UW-Madison. "He was the kind of coach who didn't have to say anything. You could look in his eyes and know what he wanted."
Coach Mitchell was known for having his teams run a pressure defense and fast-breaking fullcourt style. It played well to the strengths of his team: The Cheesemakers were stacked with guards who could handle the ball and shoot.
One of Coach Mitchell's biggest fans was Jerry Petitgoue, the winningest boys basketball coach in the history of the state (863-210) and the longtime coach at Cuba City.
Petitgoue was coaching at Gratiot High School at the time, and he still remembers Mitchell leaving him a ticket at the door so he could watch Monroe play Freeport in 1965.
"He didn't know me from a load of hay," Petitgoue said. "I think it was the greatest thing since 7-Up. You couldn't have asked for a nicer guy. I remember those kids - Tom Mitchell, Keith Burington, Bob Buchholtz, Dave Holling and Jim Dearth. They played so well as a team. (Tom) Mitchell was the quarterback. He held everything together."
And Petitgoue, who has coached 52 years and is a Wisconsin Basketball Coach Hall of Famer, credits the role Lee Mitchell played in helping him emerge as a coach.
As a young coach, Petitgoue was impressed with the hoopla and intense atmosphere Mitchell created.
"I think without a doubt Lee Mitchell was one of the giants of Wisconsin basketball," Petitgoue said. "He put basketball on the map in Monroe."
In Mitchell's era, there were no AAU traveling basketball teams and there was no weight room for athletes. But Coach Mitchell was a proponent of players working to improve their game. To that end, Tom Mitchell and his teammates rode a train to St. Louis to attend a basketball camp instructed by Ed Macauley, who played in the NBA with the Boston Celtics and St. Louis Hawks. Macauley had many other players and coaches at the camp, including Lakers legend Jerry West and Bill Bradley, a college basketball player at Princeton at the time. West and Bradley played one-on-one at the camp.
"That is when we found out there was a difference between college and the NBA players," he said.
When former Wisconsin basketball coach Bud Foster left the Badgers, one newspaper projected Lee Mitchell as a darkhorse candidate for the head coaching post. With Monroe alumnus Bob Anderegg selecting to play basketball at Michigan State, some criticized Coach Mitchell for sending his players to Michigan State, Tom Mitchell said. Lee Mitchell stayed in Monroe and Wisconsin had just eight winning seasons from 1954 to 1995.
"They (Wisconsin) were not going to hire a high school coach," Tom Mitchell said. "Whether we won or lost a game, we always learned something."
The closest game Monroe had in the tournament in 1965 was a thrilling 65-64 win over Madison West. The Cheesemakers rallied from a late deficit in the fourth quarter. After the game, Lee Mitchell gave a quote he would be remembered for on the way to a state title.
"Never a doubt," Coach Mitchell said of the game's outcome.
Former Monroe boys basketball coach Lee Mitchell, to many, was ahead of his time. Mitchell coached the Monroe boys basketball team for 27 years starting with the 1947-48 season. He compiled a record of 386-217 and led Monroe to four of the Cheesemakers' 14 state tournament berths - including the state championship in 1965.
Mitchell was born and raised in Monroe. He played basketball for Monroe and then University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also served as a social studies teacher at the high school.
"Whether you liked him or not, he (Lee Mitchell) was an institution here," Monroe's Tom Mitchell said of his father. "He had been through the wars as a player and coach."
Monroe went through a stretch of about 10 years when it had six basketball players playing for teams in the Big Ten Conference. Keith Burington, who was the leading scorer for the Cheesemakers on the 1965 state championship team, credited Coach Mitchell for taking pressure off the team, considering it was ranked No. 1 from the start of the season to the end.
"Playing for Coach Mitchell was the highlight of my career," said Burington, who also went on to play for the UW-Madison. "He was the kind of coach who didn't have to say anything. You could look in his eyes and know what he wanted."
Coach Mitchell was known for having his teams run a pressure defense and fast-breaking fullcourt style. It played well to the strengths of his team: The Cheesemakers were stacked with guards who could handle the ball and shoot.
One of Coach Mitchell's biggest fans was Jerry Petitgoue, the winningest boys basketball coach in the history of the state (863-210) and the longtime coach at Cuba City.
Petitgoue was coaching at Gratiot High School at the time, and he still remembers Mitchell leaving him a ticket at the door so he could watch Monroe play Freeport in 1965.
"He didn't know me from a load of hay," Petitgoue said. "I think it was the greatest thing since 7-Up. You couldn't have asked for a nicer guy. I remember those kids - Tom Mitchell, Keith Burington, Bob Buchholtz, Dave Holling and Jim Dearth. They played so well as a team. (Tom) Mitchell was the quarterback. He held everything together."
And Petitgoue, who has coached 52 years and is a Wisconsin Basketball Coach Hall of Famer, credits the role Lee Mitchell played in helping him emerge as a coach.
As a young coach, Petitgoue was impressed with the hoopla and intense atmosphere Mitchell created.
"I think without a doubt Lee Mitchell was one of the giants of Wisconsin basketball," Petitgoue said. "He put basketball on the map in Monroe."
In Mitchell's era, there were no AAU traveling basketball teams and there was no weight room for athletes. But Coach Mitchell was a proponent of players working to improve their game. To that end, Tom Mitchell and his teammates rode a train to St. Louis to attend a basketball camp instructed by Ed Macauley, who played in the NBA with the Boston Celtics and St. Louis Hawks. Macauley had many other players and coaches at the camp, including Lakers legend Jerry West and Bill Bradley, a college basketball player at Princeton at the time. West and Bradley played one-on-one at the camp.
"That is when we found out there was a difference between college and the NBA players," he said.
When former Wisconsin basketball coach Bud Foster left the Badgers, one newspaper projected Lee Mitchell as a darkhorse candidate for the head coaching post. With Monroe alumnus Bob Anderegg selecting to play basketball at Michigan State, some criticized Coach Mitchell for sending his players to Michigan State, Tom Mitchell said. Lee Mitchell stayed in Monroe and Wisconsin had just eight winning seasons from 1954 to 1995.
"They (Wisconsin) were not going to hire a high school coach," Tom Mitchell said. "Whether we won or lost a game, we always learned something."
The closest game Monroe had in the tournament in 1965 was a thrilling 65-64 win over Madison West. The Cheesemakers rallied from a late deficit in the fourth quarter. After the game, Lee Mitchell gave a quote he would be remembered for on the way to a state title.
"Never a doubt," Coach Mitchell said of the game's outcome.
