Phoenix Rising: A Playbook for Building a Mid-Major College Basketball Program

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men’s basketball program was the epitome of mid-major mediocrity when it hired
Dick Bennett as its head coach in 1985. Relatively new to the high-pressure world of NCAA Division I athletics, UWGB took a chance on a Division III coaching legend in the hopes of resurrecting its once-proud program.

The Phoenix rode Bennett’s core pillars of developing a successful program to reach rarified air seldom experienced by its mid-major brethren.
Phoenix Rising tells the story of how one program rose to national prominence by focusing on the elements of team sports within its control rather than dwelling on its limitations.