SOUTH WAYNE — Prior to the girls basketball game between Black Hawk and Darlington on Monday Jan. 5, Mike Flanagan was honored for his induction into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame. The induction took place on September 29 at the WBCA Hall of Fame Banquet at the Wilderness Resort at Wisconsin Dells. Flanagan’s family joined him on the court as he was honored.

Flanagan is now in his second year as the girls head coach at Darlington, where he led the Redbirds to a 16-9 record last year. Prior to that, he was the girls basketball coach at Black Hawk for 15 years, leading the Warriors to an overall record of 309-71, winning a state championship in 2019 and runners-up finishes in 2010 and 2018. In 2020, the Warriors went undefeated and reached the State Tournament in Green Bay, only to have the tournament canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, the Warriors reached the State Tournament again, but lost in the state semifinals to Three Lakes/Phelps 51-48, snapping a 75 game winning streak. Flanagan stepped down after that and became the Elementary/Middle School Principal at Darlington soon after. He talked about his decision to leave Black Hawk to focus on goals he had in mind. 

“When I decided to apply for the Principal job at Darlington, I had no business applying for that, I mean, I didn’t have the degree. But I went for it and they took a chance on me and it’s worked out really, really well. I’ve never regretted it. I didn’t expect to get back into coaching so soon. An opportunity came along and it felt right and I did it,” said Flanagan.

Looking back at his time at Black Hawk, Flanagan said he is proud of what was accomplished and happy to be coaching again. “As it turned out, it was something that we thought I could manage and I’m just so happy to be back on the sidelines and proud of what we did here at Black Hawk, obviously, and that was all about the athletes and all about the community,” Flanagan said.