When Stacy Skemp was playing basketball at Pecatonica High School, coaching the sport was never really on her mind.
More than 20 years later, she’s been named the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association’s Division 2 Coaching Achievement Award winner for 2025-26 in recognition of several successful seasons coaching the Milton girls program.
“You don’t do this all by yourself and knowing it all yourself. I’m surrounded by wonderful people,” said Skemp, formerly Stacy Carlson, a 2002 Pec grad. “There are so many people who support our games and support the team. I feel very fortunate to have such a great support system around me.”
Skemp, an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor at Milton High School, has been coaching the Milton girls basketball program for the past 11 years. Under Skemp and her staff, the team has been one game short of advancing to state three times, regional champions five times and has finished second in the competitive Badger Large Conference. She credits having a strong group of dedicated athletes whose combined skills and teamwork mentality pave the way for success, in addition to great coaching staff.
“All of them are great kids – hard workers. They are a great group of kids on and off the court,” said Skemp, who was part of two Pecatonica state runner-up teams. “We’re well known for sharing the basketball. Right now, we have a super strong backcourt of guards with a lot of speed.”
Skemp played on Pec’s varsity team all four years of her high school career under head coach Mitch Wainwright, who she credits as an influence on and off the court. The team played in the state championship game her junior and senior years in 2001 and 2002, claiming state runner-up honors both times. She went on to play two and a half years of college basketball at UW-Platteville, where she earned her degree.
“You think you see that leadership capacity in them and then to see them take that step and have that success is great,” said Wainwright, who worked and coached at Pec from 1987 to 2002 and is now superintendent of the Mineral Point Unified School District. “Stacy has such a good head on her shoulders. She just had a really good understanding of the game and what the opponent was trying to do.
“I absolutely would not be surprised if Milton makes it to the state tournament – they’ve been so close.”
Skemp became increasingly interested in coaching after taking on some duties for local middle school teams while in college. She and fellow Pecatonica graduate and former teammate Kaleen (Murphy) McGettigan entered the prep hoops coaching arena – Skemp now joins McGettigan as a WBCA award winner. McGettigan, a 2000 Pec grad, earned the honor for Division 5 for the 2022-2023 season while coaching the Belmont girls team.
“Stacy is a very deserving recipient. She truly represents what this award stands for,” shared McGettigan, who just finished her 15th year as Belmont head coach and is a member of the WBCA Board. “Year after year, she leads a successful team with character and passion. She has built a program her community can be proud of. The amount of time she has put into the young women who have come through her program is second to none.”
Other WBCA Coaching Achievement Award winners for the 2025-26 season include: Joe Rux, Brookfield East; Greg Van Grunsven, Menomonie; Matt Klarner, Xavier; Wade Georgeff, Howards Grove and Dan Hoffa, Tigerton for boys, and Will Green, Madison La Follette; Troy Buelow, Winneconne; Don Schindler, Deerfield and John Zilla, Independence/Gillmanton for girls. There will be a formal award ceremony later this year.
For more information on the WBCA, visit https://www.wisbca.org/.