Menomonee Falls makes power play to bring in hoops coach Steve Showalter

The power play that Menomonee Falls athletics director Ryan Anderson engineered to bring former Germantown boys basketball coach Steve Showalter in to coach the Indians is one fraught with selfishness. And Anderson is not ashamed to admit it.

"If I'm not selfish for the Falls, then who will be?" Anderson said. "I admit to being selfish; I would want my kid to be coached by him. This is a great opportunity for the Falls."

The move, broken on Twitter on June 4, was not formalized until the afternoon of June 7. It is a complicated one and, on the surface, a public relations headache for Falls because Anderson openly went after Showalter after he had been hired as a full-time basketball coach/study hall monitor in early May by Catholic Memorial.

Upon the break on social media, a fair amount of scorn came the way of Anderson, the district and Showalter for what appeared to be an open poaching of another team's coach. As of the afternoon of June 6, Showalter had not yet officially resigned at Catholic Memorial, according to athletics director Greg Gamalski.

The Falls job became open when three-year hoops coach Ben Farley recently took the head football coaching job at his alma mater Brookfield East. He stepped down from the Falls basketball job shortly thereafter.

After that, Anderson initiated a conversation with Showalter.

Track record

The move is shocking but understandable.

That's because Showalter, in the space of 15-plus years, turned what formerly had been a basketball backwater in Germantown into an empire, leading the Warhawks to three straight WIAA state titles from 2012-2014 and a state runner-up position in 2015 (a 286-81 overall record).

But since that point, his life has been enormously complicated.

He was offered a college assistant's job at NCAA DII Lindenwood (Missouri) by an old friend (former Oshkosh West coach Lance Randall) shortly after the 2014-15 season ended. He took the job, saying he was ecstatic to coach at that level.

Showalter was still not fully vested in his pension from his 20-plus years as a Germantown police officer.

That financial issue came to a head when the Lindenwood job didn't quite work out, and he mutually parted ways with the program.

He said he was looking to come back to Wisconsin and was seeking some kind of coaching job that could offer him a full-time salary and benefits.

Catholic Memorial stepped into the breach, and he took the job, saying at the time, "I was hoping for a full-time position with benefits, and I got almost exactly what I was hoping for."

Falls was able to offer a little more, including a significantly higher salary for a similar position Showalter had taken at CMH.

Further, the move gives Showalter a chance to get back into the same public pension system he had with the Germantown Police Department.

Still, Showalter was initially cautious, at first turning down the offer but then calling back to re-initiate the conversation.

Falls will rise?

Now that the deal is done, Showalter has a chance to emulate the success he had in Germantown. There were strong athletic and competitive reasons why Anderson sought out him out.

Despite the best efforts of a variety of coaches, the Falls boys basketball program has been treading water for decades. With former North Carolina star J.P. Tokoto on the team, the Indians reached the WIAA sectional final in 2010. The team has only done that a small handful of times in its history and has never qualified for the state tournament.

"I would like to get Falls up to snuff because it's critical for the success of our kids," Anderson said. "I'm really out for the best for the Falls, so I will recruit for the Falls to give the kids the best chance to win. I did this as soon as Ben (Farley) resigned. I thought the worst thing that he (Showalter) could say is no."

Falls made it too hard for him not to say yes.

Anderson said the district will work hard to mend fences and explain the situation, which is similar to what some other high-profile coaches have done in recent years. But Anderson noted that the Greater Metro Conference fraternity of coaches is strong and only getting stronger on a yearly basis, so he felt this move was necessary.

Back when Falls and Germantown had a yearly rivalry, the Showalter-led Warhawks used to beat the Indians like a drum, always to packed houses. Now, the opportunity to create that kind of excitement is coming Falls' way.

"I'm ecstatic to get a coach like this," Anderson said. "We have a student on the selection committee, and he was completely enthusiastic about this. He said, 'I can't wait to work for coach Showalter.'"

High-profile success

That Showalter would be in high demand should come as no surprise. He led Germantown to three consecutive state titles and a fourth straight state-title game, where the Warhawks succumbed to Stevens Point in the first of their two straight state titles in 2015.

At the same time he was leaving Lindenwood, the Germantown position was conspicuously open again when Mark Adams, Showalter's former assistant, retired after one season, but the Warhawks program elected to promote assistant Steve Martin instead, especially when it became clear Germantown couldn't offer Showalter a full-time position within the school.