By Joe Peine.
The River Falls Wildcats began their first workouts this week, seeking to return to the winner’s circle after a three-year break.
For a long time, the Wildcats boys’ basketball program was at the top of its game. This will be Zac Campbell’s eleventh season as head coach, and he has transformed the team into a regular contender.
Over the last six seasons, the Wildcats have finished third, first, second, first, and second in the league before sliding back to third last year, their lowest finish since 2017.
“Our program prides itself on our consistency over time while promoting our athletes to enjoy their full high school experience through other sports while committing the time necessary to uphold the standards of our program,” Campbell went on to say.
“We have found success in this both through our athletes’ enjoyment of the full high school experience as well as our performance on the court in finishing in the top three in our conference for seven consecutive years.”
Campbell said he absolutely expects the Wildcats to finish as good or better than they did last season.
“Our goal, as always, is to commit to one another and grow throughout the year.” We are lucky to have four starters returning this year, who have done an excellent job of leading our culture.
We anticipate that this will allow us to compete with the top teams in our league while being in the smaller half of our conference in terms of enrollment,” Campbell said.
The Wildcats are fortunate to retain some key players from last year’s team, which finished third in a difficult league.
Joey Butz, a 6’1″ senior, was the lone underclassman to make first-team all-conference in the Big Rivers last season.
Campbell said his leadership and work ethic are among the greatest they’ve ever had in the program, and they expect him to continue to grow as a leader and player.
