A familiar face for Door County basketball fans will be on the visiting bench Monday night when Green Bay hosts St. Norbert College in an exhibition matchup.
As has been the case for the last three seasons, the Phoenix featured an almost entirely new roster after the departure of former coach Will Ryan. The team will also feature an almost entirely new coaching staff, with Sundance Wicks landing the job after working at Wyoming, Northern State, Northern Illinois, Colorado, San Francisco, and Missouri Western. Over the weekend, the program announced a six-part docuseries on their upcoming season called "362," embracing their end-of-season ranking out of 363 teams. The Phoenix have failed to win ten games in the last two seasons.
The Green Knights are coming off a 20-8 season, which included Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference regular-season and tournament championships and a first-round NCAA Tournament win—the season ended with a close 75-71 loss to Wheaton College in the NCAA Division 3 Tournament's second round. The Green Knights' Gary Grzesk is familiar to Phoenix fans as a defensive stalwart on some of the Phoenix's most successful teams. Their roster includes a lot of local talent, none more local than Gibraltar's Will Friedenfels. The Baileys Harbor product was an All-Packerland performer for two of the more successful Vikings teams in the program's history, including an appearance in the 2022 state semifinal. He is one of eight freshmen on the team.
The Phoenix and Green Knights will meet at the Kress Center at 7 p.m.
