Mike Mashak starts his sixth season as an assistant coach at UW-La Crosse in 2024-25.
UWL went 14-12 overall and 8-6 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in 2023-24, finishing tied for second in the league standings and qualifying for the WIAC Tournament.
The Eagles finished 19-7 overall and 10-4 in the WIAC in 2022-23. UWL advanced to the WIAC Tournament Semifinals for the fifth straight season.
UWL went 21-7 overall and 9-5 in the WIAC in 2021-22. The 21 wins tied the single-season school record for victories. UWL made its third appearance in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships, earning its first victory with a win over Heidelberg University (Ohio) in the first round. The Eagles advanced to the WIAC Tournament semifinals for the fourth straight season in 2021-22. UWL was 19th in the final 2021-22 D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll.
UWL finished 8-3 overall and 5-1 in the WIAC West Division in 2020-21, earning the number one seed in the West Division for the WIAC Championship while advancing to the tournament title game for the second time in school history. The Eagles finished 13th in the final 2020-21 D3hoops.com Top-15 Poll, their highest ranking in school history. The team led the WIAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.17) and field goal percentage defense (.394) while finishing second in turnover margin (+3.00) and steals (6.4).
The Eagles went 21-6 overall and 9-5 in the WIAC in 2019-20, placing third in the conference standings. The 21 wins tied the school record set in 1975-76. UWL was ranked 11 times on the 2019-20 D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, including the highest ranking of 14th. The team received votes on the final 2019-20 D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll. The Eagles advanced to the 2020 WIAC Championships Semifinals, their sixth appearance in the last nine seasons.
The team led the WIAC in steals (7.5 per game), three-point percentage defense (30.6) and turnover margin (+2.4) in 2019-20 while finishing second second in scoring defense (65.1), scoring margin (+9.1), three-point made per game (8.7), field goal percentage defense (41.2) and three-point field goal percentage defense (39.0). UWL tied for second in field goal percentage (46.7) and finished third in scoring offense (74.3).
Mashak has 12 years of coaching experience in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). He served as head coach for the Rockford Lightning for three seasons and the La Crosse Bobcats for one year after working for eight years as an assistant coach in the league.
He was a coach in the Southern California Summer Pro League for two seasons. Mashak spent the summer of 1995 as the head coach of the United States Basketball League's (USBL) Jersey Turnpikes, and was named the USBL Coach of the Year.
Mashak earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from UWL in 1986. He has worked as a retirement planning specialist in the La Crosse area for over 20 years.
