MONROE - Tom Mitchell still has the tattered net he and his teammates cut down. He still has the signed, scuffed-up basketball.
Boxes of scattered state basketball programs, newspaper clippings and memorabilia are housed in a spare room in his home on the east side of Monroe. When the WIAA state boys basketball tournament tips off today, it will bring back a flood of emotions and memories for Mitchell.
It's the golden anniversary of the Monroe's 1965 state championship team, when the Cheesemakers became the king of basketball in the Badger state - the top of 424 teams in the same tournament field.
Both Mitchell and Keith Burington, who played on the state championship team in 1965, went on to play basketball for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Yet, the dream season when the Cheesemakers finished 26-0, won the gold ball and were ranked No. 1 from wire-to-wire, left a lasting impression in a small town known for cheese.
"It was the pinnacle of my career," Mitchell said. "I played in the Big Ten, but we never made the NCAA tournament. It was fun playing college basketball. It's been 50 years, but you look back on it and it was a very small part of your life. With 424 teams in the same state tournament, we have the benefit to look back and wonder if it was more exciting then."
Mitchell, along with Larry Phillips, also of Monroe, have co-authored a book, "Never a Doubt," that chronicles the memories from players and fans from the state championship team that tipped Eau Claire Memorial 74-71 in the title game. The book includes chapters on four Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductees including Burington and coach Lee Mitchell; Bob Anderegg, who played for Monroe during the 1950s; and former Monroe girls basketball coach Kevin Keen. The book delves into some basketball history and includes a chapter on when Cazzie Russell, who played for Michigan, the New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA, came to Monroe with Chicago Carver to play basketball games in 1959 and 1960.
Mitchell, who is retired from a long career as a tax collector for the Internal Revenue Service, has a passion for local history.
"We decided if we were ever going to do it, this would be the year because of the 50 years and the 100 years of WIAA state basketball," Mitchell said. "If we were ever going to do it, this would be the time. This is local history. That is the way we look at it."
Many of Monroe's games in the mid-1960s were sellouts with the balcony packed. Mitchell said Monroe officials would sell tickets for a separate room where fans could watch the game on a closed circuit TV. He recalls the games against Chicago Carver and Russell.
"People came just to see them dunk in warm-ups," Mitchell said.
Monroe played in eight state tournaments before 1965, including the first WIAA state tournament in 1916. Behind Anderegg in 1955, who later would go to Michigan State and play in the NBA for the New York Knicks, Monroe finished third in the state tournament.
"Bob Anderegg was our hero," Mitchell said.
For Burington, Monroe's goal was clear at the start of the 1965 season.
"I think at the beginning of the year, our only goal was to make it to the state tournament," Burington said. "As far as I'm concerned, we looked at the regular season as preseason for the state tournament. We played every game like a tournament game - do or die."
After losing to Dodgeville twice in the sectional final two straight years in 1963 and 1964, Mitchell and Burington vowed to make a run to the state tournament in 1965. Burington averaged 27.2 points per game and he along with Mitchell, Bob Buchholtz, Dave Holling and the late Jim Dearth combined for the starting lineup.
Mitchell said one of Monroe's biggest rivals at the time was Monona Grove.
"Dodgeville wasn't in our conference," he said. "They were not a natural rival. They had a different team we beat in 1965."
Mitchell's father, Lee Mitchell, served as coach. Playing for his father brought some challenges, but Tom Mitchell was excited to finish a perfect season.
"As you can imagine, sometimes there were some bumps in the road," Mitchell said. "It's not always easy playing for your father. When it was all done, there was a sense of accomplishment winning a state championship with my father."
Mitchell, who averaged 16.3 ppg, understood the eyes of many in the community were on him since his father was the head basketball coach and a social studies teacher.
"If he said curfew was at 11 p.m., it was at 11," Tom said. "There were some people focused to see if there was any favoritism."
There were more than 13,000 in the stands at the University of Wisconsin Field House for the state championship game.
"There was a frenzy for tickets," Mitchell said. "Looking back after 50 years, it was a blur."
But Monroe wasn't awe-struck playing at the University of Wisconsin Field House. Monroe played Wisconsin High, part of the Badger Conference in the early 1960s, which played its home games at the Field House.
"The court was 94 feet and a little wider," Tom Mitchell said. "I thought it was an advantage that we had played there."
At the Pancake House a day after capturing the state title, the Cheesemakers were surprised by the support in the state's capitol.
"They wouldn't let us buy our own breakfast," Mitchell said.
Mitchell recalls a 4-mile caravan coming home, with parked cars along roads starting in Paoli and continuing to Belleville. There were 3,000 people at the high school welcoming the Cheesemakers when they returned with the gold ball.
The state championship game left an impression on Burington and it's one he will savor.
"I remember the feeling running out on the floor," Burington said. "Those feelings are almost indescribable. It sunk in when I took my jersey off for the last time."
Boxes of scattered state basketball programs, newspaper clippings and memorabilia are housed in a spare room in his home on the east side of Monroe. When the WIAA state boys basketball tournament tips off today, it will bring back a flood of emotions and memories for Mitchell.
It's the golden anniversary of the Monroe's 1965 state championship team, when the Cheesemakers became the king of basketball in the Badger state - the top of 424 teams in the same tournament field.
Both Mitchell and Keith Burington, who played on the state championship team in 1965, went on to play basketball for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Yet, the dream season when the Cheesemakers finished 26-0, won the gold ball and were ranked No. 1 from wire-to-wire, left a lasting impression in a small town known for cheese.
"It was the pinnacle of my career," Mitchell said. "I played in the Big Ten, but we never made the NCAA tournament. It was fun playing college basketball. It's been 50 years, but you look back on it and it was a very small part of your life. With 424 teams in the same state tournament, we have the benefit to look back and wonder if it was more exciting then."
Mitchell, along with Larry Phillips, also of Monroe, have co-authored a book, "Never a Doubt," that chronicles the memories from players and fans from the state championship team that tipped Eau Claire Memorial 74-71 in the title game. The book includes chapters on four Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductees including Burington and coach Lee Mitchell; Bob Anderegg, who played for Monroe during the 1950s; and former Monroe girls basketball coach Kevin Keen. The book delves into some basketball history and includes a chapter on when Cazzie Russell, who played for Michigan, the New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA, came to Monroe with Chicago Carver to play basketball games in 1959 and 1960.
Mitchell, who is retired from a long career as a tax collector for the Internal Revenue Service, has a passion for local history.
"We decided if we were ever going to do it, this would be the year because of the 50 years and the 100 years of WIAA state basketball," Mitchell said. "If we were ever going to do it, this would be the time. This is local history. That is the way we look at it."
Many of Monroe's games in the mid-1960s were sellouts with the balcony packed. Mitchell said Monroe officials would sell tickets for a separate room where fans could watch the game on a closed circuit TV. He recalls the games against Chicago Carver and Russell.
"People came just to see them dunk in warm-ups," Mitchell said.
Monroe played in eight state tournaments before 1965, including the first WIAA state tournament in 1916. Behind Anderegg in 1955, who later would go to Michigan State and play in the NBA for the New York Knicks, Monroe finished third in the state tournament.
"Bob Anderegg was our hero," Mitchell said.
For Burington, Monroe's goal was clear at the start of the 1965 season.
"I think at the beginning of the year, our only goal was to make it to the state tournament," Burington said. "As far as I'm concerned, we looked at the regular season as preseason for the state tournament. We played every game like a tournament game - do or die."
After losing to Dodgeville twice in the sectional final two straight years in 1963 and 1964, Mitchell and Burington vowed to make a run to the state tournament in 1965. Burington averaged 27.2 points per game and he along with Mitchell, Bob Buchholtz, Dave Holling and the late Jim Dearth combined for the starting lineup.
Mitchell said one of Monroe's biggest rivals at the time was Monona Grove.
"Dodgeville wasn't in our conference," he said. "They were not a natural rival. They had a different team we beat in 1965."
Mitchell's father, Lee Mitchell, served as coach. Playing for his father brought some challenges, but Tom Mitchell was excited to finish a perfect season.
"As you can imagine, sometimes there were some bumps in the road," Mitchell said. "It's not always easy playing for your father. When it was all done, there was a sense of accomplishment winning a state championship with my father."
Mitchell, who averaged 16.3 ppg, understood the eyes of many in the community were on him since his father was the head basketball coach and a social studies teacher.
"If he said curfew was at 11 p.m., it was at 11," Tom said. "There were some people focused to see if there was any favoritism."
There were more than 13,000 in the stands at the University of Wisconsin Field House for the state championship game.
"There was a frenzy for tickets," Mitchell said. "Looking back after 50 years, it was a blur."
But Monroe wasn't awe-struck playing at the University of Wisconsin Field House. Monroe played Wisconsin High, part of the Badger Conference in the early 1960s, which played its home games at the Field House.
"The court was 94 feet and a little wider," Tom Mitchell said. "I thought it was an advantage that we had played there."
At the Pancake House a day after capturing the state title, the Cheesemakers were surprised by the support in the state's capitol.
"They wouldn't let us buy our own breakfast," Mitchell said.
Mitchell recalls a 4-mile caravan coming home, with parked cars along roads starting in Paoli and continuing to Belleville. There were 3,000 people at the high school welcoming the Cheesemakers when they returned with the gold ball.
The state championship game left an impression on Burington and it's one he will savor.
"I remember the feeling running out on the floor," Burington said. "Those feelings are almost indescribable. It sunk in when I took my jersey off for the last time."
