Pewaukee’s Basile steps down
Mike Basile took the baton and ran a pretty good race.
Six years ago the longtime Pewaukee assistant succeeded hall of fame coach Tim Reuter as the school’s boys basketball coach and led the program to an impressive run of success. On Thursday, he announced his resignation.
His decision came a few months after his two older children, Grant and Brooke, graduated from Pewaukee.
“Please know that stepping down as head coach is a very difficult decision that I struggled with all summer,” he wrote in an email. “The Pewaukee Pirate community has been such a huge part of my life and I am very grateful for their support.
“As the twins head off to college and my young girls are just starting school, I would really like to be there to enjoy it all without worry. I have always been ‘all in’ on my coaching focus, and with all the changes going on in the family, something had to give.”
Basile, who had a stint as Waukesha West’s coach, spent 15 years as Reuter’s assistant, including Reuter’s final three seasons.
Basile’s teams went 115-33 (.777) with Woodland West titles the past two seasons.
He led Pewaukee to secondplace finishes in 2012-’13, 2014-’15 and 2015-’16. His lowest finish was third in 2013-’14.
Last season was one of the best in school history. Pewaukee finished 23-3 and went 14-2 in the Woodland West. The Pirates reached the sectional final in Division 2.
Grant Basile was a huge part of that success, earning first-team all-area honors from the Journal Sentinel, first-team all-state recognition from the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association and second-team all-state honors from the Associated Press.
Grant has moved on to Wright State. His father is moving on, too.
“I enjoyed the opportunity to coach many great groups of kids for the last 20 years,” Basile wrote. “The support of the administration and the community was simply unmatched.”