Lincoln Wieseman claims Gazette's POY award
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LAKE GENEVA—Freshmen want to play.
Sophomores want to start.
Juniors want to score.
Seniors want to win.
That's how Lincoln Wieseman looks back on an impressive four-year prep boys basketball career at Lake Geneva Badger.
He played on varsity as a freshman, started his sophomore season, then led the team in scoring as a junior. And he capped off a stellar senior season by helping lead the Badgers to the school's first Southern Lakes Conference title.
“It was kind of a long but steady progression for me,” Wieseman said of his prep career. “I've become more a student of the game rather than just going out and playing it.
“And as much as I enjoy the individual accolades, it's still a team sport and team-oriented. That's why this season was so special. I got to share winning a conference title with a great group of guys who worked really hard to make my job a lot easier.”
The individual accolades aren't over quite yet for Wieseman. The 6-foot-4 point guard has been named The Gazette's boys basketball player of the year.
Baseball was Wieseman's first love, but he turned to basketball because his father, Lyndon, was involved with the basketball programs in stops at Central Washington, Wayne State College (Nebraska), Bemidji State (Minnesota) and UW-Parkside.
“I was exposed to a lot of basketball growing up,” Lincoln said. “And I really enjoyed the college atmosphere.
“Now I can't get enough basketball and definitely plan on playing in college.”
Wieseman's first three years at Badger were productive, but he thrived this past season in first-year coach Forrest Larson's up-tempo style.
Larson moved Wieseman to point guard to take advantage of his athleticism and ball skills. Wieseman admittedly struggled at first to grasp the offense, but once the game slowed down enough, the Badgers were off and running.
“Lincoln was basically starting from ground zero at not only learning a new offense, but a new position,” Larson said. “That's a hard jump to make with just two weeks of practice because I need my point guard to go 100 miles per hour without making any mistakes.
“But once we caught our breath and Lincoln realized how important the decisions he made on the court were to our success, we really took off. He did a great job of finding the open man, going hard to the rim and eliminating the mistakes.”
Wieseman (16.3 points per game) was second on the team in scoring behind Jake Berhorst (18.2), led the team in rebounding at 7.1 per game and had 4.4 assists per game.
With those kind of statistics, it's no surprise he was able to handle a number of roles throughout his Badger career. He started as a wing player, moved to center his sophomore season and will now concentrate on improving his point-guard skills as he decides on a college.
Larson has no doubt that Wieseman will excel at the next level.
“Everything's in place for Lincoln,” Larson said. “He's 6-4, athletic and very skilled. He can dunk easily, has become a good ball-handler and a great decision-maker.
“He's going to have to work on his shooting a little bit, but once he starts going up against really good players on a daily basis, he's only going to get better.”