University of Wisconsin La Crosse Athletics

Athlete: 1948-51


    When John Schumann ended his coaching career in 1981, the Sheboygen Press called him "the man who maintained respectability for Sheboygan prep basketball." But basketball wasn't his only sport. Schumann also coached football and baseball during his 33-year teaching career.
    
    The Watertown, Wis., native earned four letters in both basketball and baseball at La Crosse, but his collegiate football career ended abruptly in his freshman year when a tackle dislocated his knee. Summers during college, he played professional baseball in the Philadelphia Phillies farm system. Schumann earned Coach of the Year honors numerous times at both East Troy and Sheboygan, Wis.
    
    At East Troy from 1953-1964, where he also coached football and baseball Schumann led his basketball teams to several conference championships, six district tournaments and five regionals, even though East Troy was the smallest school in the conference. In 1964, he moved to Sheboygan South where he made the basketball team a top contender. In his last three seasons, his teams compiled a 33-9 record. Schumann earned Coach of the Year Honors numerous times at both East Troy in Sheboygan . In 1981, UW-L honored him as Alumni Coach of the Year.