Dan Carey has taken the path of his mentor in reverse.

Working at Milwaukee Pius as the assistant boys coach, the new coach of the Hamilton varsity girls basketball team, Carey honed the craft under Joel Claassen, author of a girls hoops powerhouse during the past two decades before switching to the boys team in 2005.

"A lot of the things he scripted for the boys were exactly the same with what he did for the girls," Carey said of Claassen. "He didn't really change much at all. The biggest thing he told me was to coach them like athletes."

Carey, 28, in his fourth year as a teacher at Templeton Middle School, said he only would have considered one varsity girls job - the one in the same district as TMS. Newly appointed to the helm, he now undertakes the task of turning the Chargers around within the borders of a talented conference - something Claassen knew a thing or two about.

"Seeing what he did with the guys team and that quick turnaround inspires me to know that I can do the same thing," Carey said, referring to Claassen's piloting of the Pius boys to the 2005 state semifinals, one year after a 6-15 season.

Fresh start

The Hamilton girls won nine games last year, including a win in the first round of the WIAA playoffs, so Carey knows he has some talent to work with. It doesn't mean he expects to be the architect of an overnight rebuild.

"It's not going to happen overnight, and patience is the big key for everyone involved in this," Carey said. "Some say three years, some say two years to really get it going. One of the things I'm kind of intrigued by is the learning curve. I guess we'll see. I'm just preaching daily improvement, getting better today than we were yesterday, and everything else will take care of itself."

The 2005 graduate of University of Wisconsin-La Crosse earned high praise from Claassen.

"I think he has the necessities," Claassen said. "He loves the game, No. 1, and he works so many camps. He buys so many books … he's a junkie for the sport. He not only reads and studies, he absorbs everything. He's already so knowledgeable at such a young age."

Several other former Claassen assistants have current head-coaching gigs, including Brookfield Central's Dan Wandrey - who leads one of the state's top-ranked teams ("they play defense like football players … but they don't play dirty, they play physical," Carey said) in the same conference as HHS.

"Danny's doing it right; he got those kids involved immediately in summer league stuff and lifting programs," Claassen said. "He's doing all the right things, and now it's going to come to fruition I know. I went to one of the summer league games to see what he had, and he certainly has some talent to work with. It's all about changing the culture."

Early outlook

The Chargers could be the most improved team in the league, returning second-team all-conference selection Steph Kirchner and junior Courtney Lemon, both standing taller than 6 feet.

"I'll take that four and five against a lot of teams," Carey said. "They complement each other well and kind of have different skill sets. It's nice to design things around those two players. Of course, you can have all the height in the world, but you have to get them the ball."

For that, Carey will look to junior point guard Jamie Destache, who will team with senior Kerry Sullivan on the perimeter. Senior Kelsey Rajchel, sophomore Danielle Latt and junior Alissa Nagel will also play prominent roles.

"I just think he's going to fit the women's game so well," Claassen said of Carey. "I think he's going to be really successful, and they're lucky to have him in that community."

Sussex Sun / November 17, 2009