When Brookfield Central’s girls basketball coach Dan Wandrey looked behind the Lady Lancers’ bench during the girls state basketball tournament in March, he felt like it was old-home week.
Cheering the Lady Lancers on were his three older sisters — Dell, Doreen and Denise. It was not unusual for the Wandrey family to be at the state tournament since Dan and his siblings have been attending since he was in first-grade at St. Margaret Mary’s Grade School.
"My parents used to take us out of school to go watch the private school tournament at the MECCA," Wandrey recalled. "They wouldn’t have missed the games in Madison for the world this year. It was such a part of what our family was."
This season was special for the Wandreys, as Dan made it as a coach for the first time since taking over the Brookfield Central girls team in 1998. The Lady Lancers won the Greater Metro Conference (12-2) and the regional and sectional championships to go to state, where they defeated Marshfield and lost to Oshkosh West, to finish with a 19-6 record. It was only the second time in school history the girls have made it to state, the first time in 1985 when they won the title.
As a result of Central’s fine season, Wandrey walked away with the CNI All-Suburban Coach of the Year honors for this past season, the third time (2004-05, 2001-02) he has won the award since it was established in 1989-90.
A nice accomplishment for a man who said he got into coaching "when I figured out I couldn’t play."
An in-depth look at Wandrey - the man and the coach - will be in this Thursday's Brookfield NOW.
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