Mulligan
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2009
- Messages
- 4,186
- Reaction score
- 2,469
- Points
- 113
Parts of an article that makes me really happy Dawn Plitzuweit is the Gophers coach.
Dawn Plitzuweit returned home to the family farm one summer in college knowing her days would not be spent sleeping in and relaxing on the sofa. Her dad’s vision prevented him from working the fields. He had lost one eye in a farming accident as a young adult and had undergone surgery to repair a detached retina in the other eye. Plitzuweit’s two siblings weren’t around to help that summer. The corn wasn’t going to plant itself.Plitzuweit fired up the tractor and went to work. “I tell people that you can get more corn in a crooked row than a straight row,” Plitzuweit said with a laugh. “It wasn’t perfect.” But she got the job done, a lesson she carried into her life as a college basketball coach.
Plitzuweit created program pillars after being hired as the Gophers women’s coach in March 2023, and No. 3 on that list is “find a way.” Translation: No excuses, just results. Much like that summer when she planted and nurtured corn fields at her family farm in West Bend, Wis., Plitzuweit’s program is experiencing its own emergence. The Gophers are returning to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018 and will learn their seed on Sunday, March 15. They already found out Saturday they will host first- and second-round games at Williams Arena. They enter the tournament 22-8 overall and 13-5 in the Big Ten, relying on a balanced lineup and a style of play that reflects their head coach’s personality and upbringing.
The Gophers are tough, unselfish, smart and fiercely competitive. It’s as if Plitzuweit is staring into a mirror as she watches it all come together from the sideline. As a high school freshman, Plitzuweit tripped in a game and landed on her face. Her braces pierced her bottom lip. Back in the locker room, her coach and parents decided she needed to go to the emergency room. Plitzuweit asked if one of them would just rip her lip loose because she had a game to finish. “She cringed a little bit and there was some blood,” said high school coach Darwin Schramm. “You knew this was a different type of gal. Despite being 5-foot-7, Plitzuweit finished both her high school career and her college career at Michigan Tech as each program’s all-time leading rebounder.
Her work ethic is what stands out to those in her orbit.Late-night, early-morning and anytime-of-the-day film sessions are regular occurrences for a coach obsessed with preparation. Plitzuweit tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee as a college sophomore. Months later, she helped replace the roof on the church she attended in Michigan as a student. She was still rehabbing her knee, but there she was on the roof, hammering nails into shingles.
Plitzuweit prioritizes that balance with her players as well. They refer to her as “Dawny P” and teach her Gen Z slang. The 53-year-old coach is now well-versed in the “6-7” craze. “She can be loose and goofy with us,” Gophers guard Mara Braun said. Plitzuweit is also demanding without being overbearing or unreasonable. She altered a workout schedule last summer to accommodate Hart’s internship. In video sessions, Plitzuweit highlights players cheering on the bench and points out when teammates huddle tightly during timeouts.
Dawn Plitzuweit returned home to the family farm one summer in college knowing her days would not be spent sleeping in and relaxing on the sofa. Her dad’s vision prevented him from working the fields. He had lost one eye in a farming accident as a young adult and had undergone surgery to repair a detached retina in the other eye. Plitzuweit’s two siblings weren’t around to help that summer. The corn wasn’t going to plant itself.Plitzuweit fired up the tractor and went to work. “I tell people that you can get more corn in a crooked row than a straight row,” Plitzuweit said with a laugh. “It wasn’t perfect.” But she got the job done, a lesson she carried into her life as a college basketball coach.
Plitzuweit created program pillars after being hired as the Gophers women’s coach in March 2023, and No. 3 on that list is “find a way.” Translation: No excuses, just results. Much like that summer when she planted and nurtured corn fields at her family farm in West Bend, Wis., Plitzuweit’s program is experiencing its own emergence. The Gophers are returning to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018 and will learn their seed on Sunday, March 15. They already found out Saturday they will host first- and second-round games at Williams Arena. They enter the tournament 22-8 overall and 13-5 in the Big Ten, relying on a balanced lineup and a style of play that reflects their head coach’s personality and upbringing.
The Gophers are tough, unselfish, smart and fiercely competitive. It’s as if Plitzuweit is staring into a mirror as she watches it all come together from the sideline. As a high school freshman, Plitzuweit tripped in a game and landed on her face. Her braces pierced her bottom lip. Back in the locker room, her coach and parents decided she needed to go to the emergency room. Plitzuweit asked if one of them would just rip her lip loose because she had a game to finish. “She cringed a little bit and there was some blood,” said high school coach Darwin Schramm. “You knew this was a different type of gal. Despite being 5-foot-7, Plitzuweit finished both her high school career and her college career at Michigan Tech as each program’s all-time leading rebounder.
Her work ethic is what stands out to those in her orbit.Late-night, early-morning and anytime-of-the-day film sessions are regular occurrences for a coach obsessed with preparation. Plitzuweit tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee as a college sophomore. Months later, she helped replace the roof on the church she attended in Michigan as a student. She was still rehabbing her knee, but there she was on the roof, hammering nails into shingles.
Plitzuweit prioritizes that balance with her players as well. They refer to her as “Dawny P” and teach her Gen Z slang. The 53-year-old coach is now well-versed in the “6-7” craze. “She can be loose and goofy with us,” Gophers guard Mara Braun said. Plitzuweit is also demanding without being overbearing or unreasonable. She altered a workout schedule last summer to accommodate Hart’s internship. In video sessions, Plitzuweit highlights players cheering on the bench and points out when teammates huddle tightly during timeouts.
