Don Richards

Would Jeff Berkhof, UWRF's head basketball coach for the past 17 seasons, agree with Denny Crum, one-time Louisville basketball coach, who said, "Most of our future lies ahead?”

He might because he's relatively young. During those years his teams have a 220-208 win/loss record, second only to that of his predecessor, Rick Bowen. Since the start of the 2010 season the Falcons have made three NCAA tournament appearances and have won the WIAC conference tournament twice. His teams have played in the WIAC tournament championship five times in the last 11 years and won a WIAC regular season championship in 2016-2017, finishing with a 25-4 record. He was named Coach of the Year in 2017, his third time winning the award. He was also named the NABC's Central Region Coach of the Year and Wisconsin Division 3 Coach of the year in 2017.

But basketball was not the reason he got recruited out of high school: "I started out being recruited for football in high school which lead me to South Dakota State University, at that time a Division 2 program." He liked it there but said he was "thinking way too short term."

He said he missed playing basketball, so he transferred to Worthington Community College (MN). After playing there for two years, he was recruited by Rick Bowen, head coach at UWRF.

"It was a great experience playing at River Falls and for Rick," he said.

He remembered playing before some huge crowds, both on the road and at Karges Center. 

The Falcons finished fourth in the conference during his senior year. He said it would have been good to have had a conference tournament at that time because, "We were the kind of team which could have gone on a run and won it." 

Before his senior year he was named captain of the team and after the season made the WIAC All Conference team. Following his playing career and graduate school, he became Bowen's assistant coach for several years.

One of Coach Berkhof's assistants is Lance Westberg, who does "a great job recruiting, runs our basketball camps, and is very active in player development and game planning."

Charley Choiniere and Taylor Germain, a UWRF graduate, are other assistants and are involved in all aspects of the program.

Coach B thinks it is hard to say which teams will finish at the top of the WIAC this year.

"They all look good to me," he said. Some teams have lost more than others and there are a couple of new coaches so that complicates making any predictions. Whitewater is predicted to win the WIAC.

Speaking of losses brings to mind that Rodrick Payne, last year's leading scorer and all conference player, transferred to Western Illinois on a full scholarship.

"Rod Payne was a really good player for us and I'm glad he's getting a chance at the Division 1 level. However, we have an experienced team and have a lot of guys who can help us. So far, Noah Hanson, Jake Rieck, and Regan Meritt are all on track recovering from their injuries."

All three had serious knee injuries which kept them off-team for all or part of last season.

The highlight of the non-conference season will be a Dec. 21 game at St Thomas.

"It will be a regular season game for them, not an exhibition, so we will treat it the same way. It should be a great experience for our team," Berkhof said.

In addition, the schedule includes several games with Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams.

Berkhof said weight training will play an important part in his team's development.

"The guys have responded well to Jake Anderson, our new strength coach. Hopefully, he will keep them strong and healthy. Weight training is a must for our players all year long. We have different approaches to it at different times. For example, we try to lift twice per week during season." 

Coach Berkhof is hoping his team pays attention to the little things in order to improve. An extra point or two or a mental lapse on defense can win or lose a game. Sometimes parents have mental lapses as shown in an actual note from a parent to a teacher: "Please excuse Sally for yesterday's absence. She felt sick to her stomach and was in bed with gramps." 

The Falcons open their schedule Nov. 10 in Superior against Concordia-Moorhead U. (MN) as part of a two-day tournament. Their first home game is Wednesday, Nov. 15 vs Gustavus Adolphus.