SOUTH WAYNE — The recruiting process to play a college sport can take a while as teams jump in to compete for an individual’s talent, campus visits, continuous mail and meet and greets after games become the norm.

Black Hawk junior Bailey Butler went a different route. In 2018 she was offered a scholarship to play basketball at UW-Green Bay, and on June 18 this year, she verbally committed.

“It was a weight lifted off my shoulders,” Butler said. “They just treated me like family from the start. I knew it was where I wanted to be.”

Butler was on campus for a camp and played in pickup games both June 17 and 18. She knew then and there that Green Bay is where she wanted to be.

Jen Wellnitz, a 2014 Black Hawk grad, just finished her career with the Phoenix this past spring. Butler said Wellnitz has been an inspiration and a role model throughout her career and that she is proud to follow in those footsteps.

“Jen is a role model for me,” Butler said. “It just goes to show kids that want to grow up and play college basketball, you can if you put your mind to it and work hard enough.”

Warrior coach Mike Flanagan said the process of recruiting in today’s day and age has a lot more bearing on the AAU circuit, but that schools still checked in with him and followed the program.

“Whether it’s right or wrong, in today’s day and age its more about the AAU coach. But the staff at Green Bay and Wisconsin have been inclusive of me in the process,” Flanagan said.

Flanagan coached both Wellnitz and Butler and said the inspiration for the youth program in the community is huge.

“As talented as these kids are, they’ve gotten there through their own hard work. “If you’re willing to grind and put in the time, it’s possible to play at the next level,” Flanagan said. “We’re lucky a small school like Black Hawk has had two players now with scholarships.”

Butler, who also drew interest from Wisconsin and UW-Milwaukee, has 939 career points at Black Hawk through just her sophomore season — an average of 16.5 points per game. She’s hit 136 3-pointers in 57 contests and has been a key cog in two runs to the state finals, including a WIAA Division 5 championship in March.

“Bailey created this opportunity for herself by attending camps and getting exposure. I’m just an advocate for her,” Flanagan said.