Jonas, Hall inducted into Fort Wall of Fame

By Chris Spangler

Two honorees — a retired six-sport coach and 1990s basketball standout — have been inducted into the Fort Atkinson High School Athletic Wall of Fame.

Mike Hall, Stillwater, Minn., and Paul Jonas, Wauwatosa, were each honored Friday during a ceremony in the high school auditorium.

“The Wall of Fame recognizes and honors outstanding achievements of individuals, coaches and friends of Fort Atkinson High School who have contributed to the integrity, promotion and growth of athletics …,” Athletic Director Steve Mahoney said in his welcome. “Members of the Wall of Fame have performed at an exceptionally high athletic level and represented the Fort Atkinson High School with high standards of citizenship and character.”

He said the award recognizes people who have been instrumental in creating an excellent athletic tradition with the ideals of Blackhawk pride in the 1Team theme.

Mahoney expanded on that in brief concluding remarks, as well.

“This is a really special year for this Wall of Fame: Two legends coming together. But more importantly is that you guys here are coming in together with them,” Mahoney told the audience of family, friends and former coaches and players. “This is an outstanding group. So many lives in Fort Atkinson have been touched and Paul and Mike have a lot to do with that, but everybody in the audience has to do, as well.”

Mahoney, who is in his seventh year as athletic director, said it was “super special” to be honoring a former classmate and teammate in Jonas and a best friend in Hall.

“This is what Fort Atkinson athletics embody. This is the culture that we share. If every student athlete can come through our programs and have this type of experience and these types of relationships, we’ve done something super successful,” he added.

Serving as master of ceremonies was John Kammer Jr., a member of the Wall of Fame Nominating Committee. He outlined Jonas and Hall’s achievements before each was presented with an engraved glass trophy and invited to say a few words.

Paul Jonas

Jonas, a 1994 Fort Atkinson High School graduate, is an attorney with Michael Best & Friedrich in Milwaukee. He and his wife, Andrea, have a 12-year-old daughter, Josephine, and 10-year-old son, Dominic.

“Paul earned six varsity letters, participating in basketball and baseball,” Kammer said in introducing Jonas. “In basketball, Paul earned four letters playing for Coach Gary Hamm. Paul debuted in a regional tournament game in 1991 with 20 points as a freshman.”

As a sophomore, Kammer said, Jonas earned Second Team All-Badger Conference and was named captain and team MVP (most-valuable player).

“In his junior season, the Blackhawk basketball team was crowned Badger Conference champions. Paul was named 1st Team All-Conference, captain, team MVP, as well as earning Honorable Mention All-State honors by the Associated Press,” Kammer said.

“As a senior, Paul led the Blackhawks to a Sectional final appearance in 1994,” he added. “Fort Atkinson had an 18-game winning streak and finished third in the final Associated Press rankings.”

Also that year, Jonas earned his third team MVP while serving as captain for the third consecutive year.

“The honors continued as Paul was named 1st Team All-Badger Conference and was also named a 3rd Team All-State Selection by the Associated Press,” Kammer said. “Paul was selected to the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-Star basketball game for his accomplishments on the hardwood, where he led the Class B South team with 24 points in a win over the North team.”

The four-year basketball letter winner finished his high school career having scored 1,511 points on the court while holding the single-game scoring record of 46 points during a game his senior year.

Kammer said Jonas also earned two letters in baseball, and academically, he was a member of the National Honor Society and a 1993 representative to Badger Boys’ State.

“Paul earned Academic All-State WBCA honors his senior year for his dedication in the classroom,” Kammer continued. “To finish his athletic career, Paul was named Athlete of the Year his junior and senior years.”

Jonas received a basketball scholarship to the University of Utah, Kammer said. He redshirted his first season before playing minutes the second. He transferred to Snow College, a junior college located in Ephraim, Utah, where he could contribute in a greater way. Jonas completed his basketball career at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

“I am so honored to be inducted into this group of individuals, many of whom I’ve known personally and nearly all of whom I know of and all of whom I respect greatly,” Jonas said upon being presented the honor.

He thanked his many friends, former teammates and mentors, including Mahoney — who was a senior on the basketball team when Jonas was a freshman — as well as Brian Kammer. 

“Coach (Gary) Hamm, thank you for everything. Thank for specifically for nominating me in this particular instance,” he added.

He also thanked Hall, who arrived in Fort Atkinson during Jonas’ sophomore year, saying it was “really cool that you and I get to go into this club together. … Great memories and congratulations!”

Jonas recalled some memories of his childhood.

“When we were growing up, Fort basketball was just — Fort sports in general, but basketball in particular — was just such a big deal,” he said. “You had these icons — Coach (Don) Gruber, Coach Hamm, Brian Grant, Keith Neubert, Luke Bienfang, John Offerdahl, Mick Smrekar — so growing up, those were the guys we aspired to be like. Going to Coach Gruber’s basketball camp, Coach Gruber would walk in and it’s like, ‘it’s on.’ Sometimes Dave VanderMeulen would be there and it would really be ‘on.’ It was intense. That was the world we grew up in.”

He also recalled, as a fourth-grader at St. Joseph Catholic School, playing basketball in the municipal building gymnasium.

“I remember Coach Gruber and Coach Hamm walking in and it was literally like if Bobby Knight had walked in … for me anyway, it was, like, ‘well all right. That’s about as good as it gets.’ That is kind of how it was,” Jonas said.

He also shared some memories of various games during his stellar career at Fort Atkinson High School. 

“My junior year, we had a great team. We ended up 16-5 … There’s no way we should’ve been 16 and 5,” Jonas reminisced. “So we lose at DeForest at the buzzer … the Oregon loss was a missed free-throw.”

The team also lost to Whitewater and then Janesville Craig in the tournament. 

“The other loss was double-overtime in Middleton, when allegedly I took an ill-advised three-point shot where maybe if we had just held on for the win, but you know you miss all the shots you don’t take, so I would take that shot again,” Jonas said.

His senior year, the Blackhawks started out 3-3, but that soon changed.

“We had a good comeback at DeForest. Won that game. Went on to win 18 straight,” Jonas said, also remembering the buzzer-beater against Oregon to go to the Sectional final.

“We lost to Baraboo, and that will stick with lots of people in this room for along time, I know, but it happens,” he said.

Jonas also recalled when Coach Hamm once asked the team, “Why do you want to win this game?” Someone said they wanted to “to win this one for all the small schools that never got here,” quoting the film “Hoosiers.”

“Then I was being a punk and said I wanted to win for my dad,” Jonas said. “I was kind of joking around. Years later, I felt bad about that. Coach had a point here: Why do you want to win this game and I made a joke of it. But actually, over time, I did feel bad because I meant it. I didn’t think I did at the time, but I did,” he said, with a catch in his throat.

Jonas shared a few lessons he took from his sports career that have served him well in life.

“I played every role from big star to last man on the bench, sixth man and everything in between, and I think that is such great preparation for life because, depending on the context and circumstances, sometimes you’ve got to lead and sometimes you’ve got to follow and sometimes you’ve just got to be that soldier,” he said. “Sports does such a good job of preparing people for that life test.”

He concluded with a final lesson that he tells his son whenever he doesn’t want to go to basketball practice.

“Dude, you don’t understand. You are going to look back at this in just a few years and think. ‘aw man, I would give anything to just have one more chance to go to practice with (teammates and friends),’” he concluded.

Mike Hall

Mike Hall was an English teacher and coach in Fort Atkinson from 1991-2021, coaching 61 different seasons in six different sports.

“Mike served as the head boys’ basketball coach for nine seasons (1997-2005). During his tenure, Mike led the Blackhawks to two Southern Lakes Conference championships and a trip to the Division I WIAA state tournament in 2002,” Kammer said.

He noted that Hall was named Southern Lakes Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2002, and selected as an assistant coach in the 2004 WBCA All-Star Game.

“As an assistant boys’ basketball coach, Mike was a part of three sectional finals appearances, including a trip to the 1995 WIAA Division 2 State Tournament,” Kammer said. “Mike also served as an assistant girls’ basketball coach for the Blackhawks qualifying for Sectionals in 2012.”

Hall also was a longtime assistant football coach, being a part of 11 WIAA playoff appearances.

“In 2003, the Blackhawks won the Southern Lakes Conference Championship and qualified for the WIAA quarterfinals,” Kammer noted.

In the spring, Hall coached baseball and track. As the pole vault coach, he had two student athletes who went to State, in 2015 and 2016.

“Mike was one of the greatest teachers to teach in Fort Atkinson,” Kammer continued. “In 2011, he received the Kohl Fellowship award for teaching excellence. He won the Wildermuth Award for Excellence in Education in 2019 and was tabbed as ‘Teacher of the Year’ in 2021.”

He also was chosen as national Advanced Placement College Board reader, and led the school’s literary magazine, “The Mark” for many years.

Hall has two children who graduated from Fort Atkinson: Alex in 2018 and Samantha in 2021.

“Coach Hall is one of the most respected educators and coaches to come through Fort Atkinson,” Kammer said.

In Stillwater, Minn., Hall serves as boys’ basketball varsity assistant coach at Baldwin-Woodville High School.

“I am humbled by your nomination and induction,” Hall said before congratulating Jonas on his induction.

He said that after he arrived in Fort Atkinson in 1991, he would find Jonas hard at work in the gym.

“In the mornings, I would come in and work out and shoot baskets, and Paul was already in the gym working on his game,” Hall recalled. “As a sophomore, he and I played one-on-one and I knew even then what kind of a special player he was. Fast-forward two years later, I was an assistant coach whose job it was to guard Paul in practice. Paul and his four horsemen … delighted in dragging me through the defense and giving me my daily bruises.”

Turning to himself, Hall said he was “humbled by this induction and I consider myself extremely fortunate to be included with such an honorable group. Those names on the wall have always meant a great deal to me and to be up there with everyone else is sincerely surreal.”

He shared thank-yous to mentors and others who have influenced him throughout the years. Among them were Don Gruber, whom he called his “adviser, my mentor and my friend”; Jeff Brown, who made sure I was part of his family during my first year in Fort”; and (retired Fort Atkinson Parks and Recreation Department Director) Scott Lastusky, who reminded him that “players’ lives outside of basketball come first.” 

Hall also cited Dennis Schwedrsky and Mark Sykes, who “demonstrated how getting athletes to work beyond their expectations can also be fun.”

He noted that he and Sykes also are throat cancer survivors, adding, “I am convinced that had I not watched firsthand Mark’s will and courage throughout all of his cancer experiences, I would never have survived mine.”

He also credited Brian Bosch for reminding him “that it is OK to be human and a coach,” and Lance Riddell, with whom Hall played softball for 25 years, and who also coached football, basketball and baseball for many of those.

”Lance was our Jayvee (junior varsity) coach when I coached the boys and when I coached the girls,” Hall said. “Good jayvee basketball coaches do two things: Get kids better from November through February and prepare them for the next life. Lance was always the master of that.”

He continued: “He also made it his mission to care about his athletes long after the last minute of practice or the final buzzer sounded. I’ve learned so much about how to properly treat others from Lance, and he’s the older brother I never had.”

Hall then turned to Gary Hamm.

“My father was never a sports guy. He was more into music, as was my mother. That actually served me well when I was younger because I was never the one with the overbearing parent who thought he or she knew everything,” Hall recalled. “For as long as I’ve known Gary, he has been a genuine father figure. I have learned so much about basketball when coaching, but so much more about the importance of relationships and about life.”

He pointed out that Hamm served as Gruber’s jayvee coach for 21 years.

“That’s honestly al you need to know about Gary. He’s dedicated, loyal and patient. Never mind that he is the best jayvee basketball coach in Fort’s history, he has become a mentor and good friend to so many of us who have followed in his footsteps,” Hall said.

Hall also said that he has known Matt Noll for more than 20 years, having taught English and coached football, basketball and baseball together. 

“Despite our commonality in English and sports, Matt and I, more importantly, shared a genuine concern for each other,” Hall told attendees. “We’re each other’s biggest cheerleader, and the first one to pick the other up when he stumbles. Never have I been in more awe than when I’ve watched Matt meet adversity head-on.

“Though he is 15 years my junior, I look up to Matt and I only hope that I can be half the man that he is,” he added.

Hall then thanked Steve Mahoney.

“I was a cocky college kid who had a passion for coaching when I first met him,” he said. “Like Mark Sykes, Steve and I played basketball together and constantly challenged each other in one-on-one … Eventually, we became each other’s assistant in football and basketball and grew to be best friends. Life is full of givers and takers. We know the takers all too well, because we see so many who only ask for favors but rarely give them themselves.

“Mo is in the other group,” he continued. “He’s the first to give of himself to any and all and never ask for anything in return. Mo and I have served many trials and celebrated many successes. We have endured the death of his father and the challenges of my heart surgery. Mo would never admit it, but he and a select few were responsible for saving my life when I went through cancer and heart surgery. Both Mo and I have brothers; they don’t come close to what Mo and I have.”

Lastly, Hall thanked his children, Samantha and Alex.

“The dirty little secret about coaching is that family takes the hit. They sacrifice more than anyone outside coaching can imagine,” he shared.

Hall said that his daughter spent many afternoons and evenings in my classroom waiting for him to finish practice, and his son cried uncontrollably upon learning that Hall was resigning from boys’ basketball and he never would be able to be coached by his dad.

“That seems like a Hallmark Channel moment, but only because he knew of nothing else,” Hall said of Alex. “Both Alex and Sami have been dragged around Southern Wisconsin scouting trips and coaches’ meetings. Both can film a basketball game without blinking an eye. Without a rudder in hand, children and coaches often ride the waves of adversity and celebrations with their coaching parents. I am truly blessed to have had such supportive children throughout my coaching career. They have served as a constant reminder that family has earned the right to be at the head of the line.”

Hall concluded his remarks saying that, while he is glad to be back in Stillwater, he will never forget Fort Atkinson.

“I’m glad to be near my family and in my old neighborhood, but I will always consider Fort my home,” he said. “The friendships of players, coaches, colleagues and community members that I cherish make this my home. It can be argued that from the early ’90s until now has been the golden era of athletics here in Fort. I know boys’ basketball was very successful during the ’70s and ’80s, but the overall successes in the entire athletic program from 1990 to now cannot be matched. To be a small part of that has been a humbling and rewarding experience.”