Scott Williams remembers former North Carolina teammate Joe Wolf

KOHLER – Joe Wolf's deep pride in being a Wisconsin native never wavered, even as basketball took him from his small hometown to the sport's biggest stages.

Scott Williams was a freshman at the University of North Carolina when Wolf was a senior during the 1986-87 season. Williams found it funny that Wolf beamed as he showed people that the sinks and toilets in the brand new Dean E. Smith Center were made by Kohler Co.

But Wolf was like that the whole time.

“It was pretty darn close to every hotel we were in,” Williams said. “One of the first things he looked for was to see if there were any Kohler products in the bathrooms. All sinks and faucets, of course.”

“He was really proud of this area. It's funny because I always thought where the hell is, Kohler, Wisconsin? I've never heard of it, I thought it was just a company that made bathroom products. I fell the first time I was up here. I love it and can see why he found it so special when he came back year after year.

Williams sat on a patio overlooking the beautiful Meadow Valleys Course at Blackwolf Run on Friday and it hurt that his friend wasn't next to him.

Wolf died on Thursday at the age of 59. The Kohler native would have loved to attend the Milwaukee Bucks Foundation golf outing, raise money for charity, drink a few beers and tell tall tales about his basketball life as a big man, which included stints with the Milwaukee Bucks as a player and coach.

“We couldn’t have been any different,” Williams said. “This guy from the farmlands and dairy pastures of Wisconsin and I come from the glitz and glamor of Hollywood in sunny California and Los Angeles. But we quickly became friends. He always had a warm smile.”

After their season together at North Carolina, Williams and Wolf joked that they had both had journeyman careers with the same stops, but never at the same time. Both played in the NBA for the Bucks and Denver Nuggets. Both trained in what was then the NBA Development League with the Idaho Stampede. Williams spent one season as the Bucks' anchorman, although not when Wolf was an assistant at Milwaukee under Scott Skiles.

They never talked about the fact that Wolf was arguably the best high school player from Wisconsin. Williams had to find out for himself.

“I obviously knew Joe was a damn good player, but Joe didn't talk about his achievements,” Williams said. “I didn’t find out he was chosen Mr. Basketball. I didn’t know he won three state championships at a school with less than 100 people.”

“That’s how Joe was. Just a humble, good guy. Liked to hand me a beer, tell a joke and laugh a bit. Always quick to get involved in the Carolina text chain.”

Joe Wolf is probably still the No. 1 high school player in Wisconsin

It sounds like a Paul Bunyan-style myth.

A 1.80 meter tall basketball prodigy emerges from a small town who could run and shoot. He becomes a McDonald's All-American and basketball coaches at every Blue Blood school scramble to find Kohler on a map.

“You've never seen a 6-foot-4 player as agile and as complete a player as he was,” said Win Parkinson, one of the best coaches in State Prep history, who was 511 in 33 seasons at Milwaukee Tech won victories. “He could shoot the ball. He could handle the ball.”

“He was a complete player. Back then, if you saw a player who was 6-10 years old, he was primarily an inside player. They were just big and physical and could rebound and shoot from the inside. But Wolf was a complete player for his size.” . He played like a 6-3 or 6-4 kid back then.”

Now in his 80s, Parkinson has an extensive knowledge of the state's basketball history. He has been involved with the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association for decades and still sits on the Hall of Fame committee. Parkinson remembers hearing about this kid in Kohler and taking a trip to watch Wolf play at the Sheboygan Armory.

From 1979 to 1983, Wolf scored 2,086 points at Kohler. The Blue Bombers never had more than 183 students during Wolf's time at the school, but they won Class C state titles when Wolf was a freshman, junior and senior.

None other than legendary Marquette coach Al McGuire declared Wolf the greatest player in Wisconsin history when McGuire attended a Kohler practice during Wolf's senior year, when McGuire was working as an NBC broadcaster.

“Best thing ever, I think,” McGuire told the Milwaukee Journal. “And that includes Jimmy Chones, Johnny Johnson and Fred Brown.”

Parkinson was part of a 173-member panel in 2005 when the Journal Sentinel's Cliff Christl compiled an all-time state high school team. Wolf was the overwhelming choice as the No. 1 player, receiving 54 votes, while Brown, a star with Milwaukee Lincoln from 1964 to 1967, received 37 votes.

Chones, of Racine Park and Racine St. Catherine's, was a first-team pick, while Johnson was a second-team pick, of Milwaukee St. Benedict and Messmer.

Parkinson believes that if voted again, Wolf would likely still surpass the talented players Wisconsin has produced since 2005.

“He could still be the best No. 1 of all time,” Parkinson said.

Wolf always wanted to be around basketball

Wolf loved to play basketball. Even after 11 seasons in the NBA, Wolf continued to look for coaching jobs where he could pass on the lessons he learned along the way.

He coached out of the spotlight at places like UNC-Wilmington and most recently with the Wisconsin Herd in the G League.

Williams loved learning from Wolf as a youth at UNC.

“I think he was a natural person,” Williams said. “More than the Xs and Os. You have to be able to communicate with people from all walks of life.”

“Whether it was JR Reid, a super talent from the South, myself from the West Coast or Steve Bucknell from London, everyone loved Wolfie. We didn't have a single guy on the team who didn't like being around him or breaking bread with him or riding in the back of the bus and telling stories. That's a special kind of person.

Williams and Wolf texted constantly. There have been many golf outings with former Tar Heels over the years.

“I would text him a lot about things that were going on or about Carolina,” Williams said. “Every time the Powerball raised over $300, we had a big group and we were like: You get one from Wisconsin, I get one from Arizona. A few people from Carolina, a few people from Texas. We all put in $10.” and laughs a little.

“I never think we got more than three numbers right. We always thought (if they won) we would get a big place in Chapel Hill for all of us to hang out.”

The grief was still fresh for Williams, but it felt right to be in Wolf's hometown. Williams took his scorecard and scratched out the first part of “Blackwolf Run” so it read “Joe Wolf Run.”

Then Williams went out to feel his friend's presence on a beautiful day in Kohler.

Joe Wolf is probably still the No. 1 high school player in Wisconsin

Wolf always wanted to be around basketball

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