During the 2001 men’s basketball season, the UW-Platteville Pioneers were ranked 16th in Division III and had a pair of brothers on the team, Brad and Bryan Stangel from Monroe. Now, seven years later, UW-P is ranked 8th in D- III and the youngest Stangel brother, Brett, is sporting the Pioneer orange and blue.

“Brett is a unique situation,”  head coach Paul Combs said. “He came to a lot of games growing up, both home and away. He has a sincere appreciation for the WIAC and D- III basketball as a whole. The Stangel family and UW-P is a natural fit; over the course of years it has been a recipe for success.”

Freshman Brett Stangel had the chance to watch and experience the strong traditions of Pioneer basketball way before his teammates. In 1997, when Brett was eight-years-old, he would go to home games and travel to road games with his parents to support his two older brothers, Brad (1997-01) and Bryan (1999-03). His brothers both got to experience Bo Ryan’s coaching and got to be part of the National Championship team in 1999.

Brett also participated in the Bo Ryan basketball camps at UW-P.

“I think my parents and I only missed like two of their games,” Brett said. “When I was little watching them play, I thought it would be sweet to play here too.”

During his senior year of high school, Brett helped lead the Monroe Cheesemakers to the WIAA state tournament and was named co-MVP in the Division II WIAA basketball championship where he set and tied several tournament records. During his high school career, Stangel and the Cheesemakers went 63-13 while winning back-to-back conference, regional and sectional championships.

All the while, Brett continued to watch and learn from his older brothers. Brett said he has spent many hours playing competitive games of H-O-R-S-E with Brad and Bryan in the driveway and at the YMCA.

“He is a great competitor and will provide us with instant offense,” Combs said. “I believe he will show a lot of poise on the court with his background.”

While he is now awaiting the start of the 2008-09 season as a Pioneer, Brett wasn’t always sure if he wanted to come to UW-P. His brothers and parents told him to make the best decision for himself. After visiting the campus and seeing all the strong traditions UW-P has, Brett made his decision in April to follow in his older brothers’ footsteps. Brett doesn’t feel pressured about playing at the same university as his brothers.

“I want to the help the team win anyway I can,” Brett said. “I try and not think about what they have done and just control the things I can do to make me a better player. I just want to be myself.”

The Pioneers kick-off the season at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 9 with an exhibition game against Division I Bradley.