GREEN BAY – Green Bay native and Green Bay Southwest graduate, Connor Pytleski, has had a breakout season this year for the Green Knights, helping them to a 20-6 overall, 16-2 conf. record.
“I think we’ve just kept growing as a team and after the first ten games we really figured out how we are going to play with each other. It all really came together around that point and us sticking together has really led to a lot of success for us this year,” said Pytleski.
The Green Knights lost several players to graduation last season, including Brandt Wilson, Jamison Nickolai, Aidan Harrington, Kyler Krueger and Garett Grzesk.
“We lost four starters and five seniors, so that was hard, but I think (sophomore) Mason Frieburger has really stepped up this season and been our key to success this season after losing Brandt Wilson. [Wilson] was a big loss for us because he really held it down in the post and now this year Mason has really taken a step forward in that role and I think he’s been doing really well,” said Pytleski.
“Will Stuckey’s jump from freshman to sophomore year has been great. He started almost every game last year, but the jump he’s taken from freshman to sophomore year has been really big for us. He’s really been leading our team this whole season. Those two sophomores have a bright future ahead of them and will be really fun to watch the next couple of years.”
The Green Knights were slated to finish third in the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) behind Concordia Wisconsin and Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) according to voting by the conference’s coaches and sports information directors.
“I don’t think anyone expected us to be this good this year. We were picked third and had two teams above us, and we’ve beat both of those teams this year. I’m really proud of our guys for that and for sticking with it. It’s a long season and basketball is a grind,” said Pytleski.
According to Pytleski, their success this season has been a full team effort. The Green Knights were slightly edged out for first place in the NACC regular season standings by MSOE (19-7 overall, 16-2 conf.).
“I’m really proud. I think the guys on the scout team don’t get enough credit and I’m really proud of them for sticking with it. We have such a deep team, and I think that pretty much all of those guys could play, but they just get stuck behind the juniors and sophomores that have been here for two or three years now, so I’m proud of them for sticking with it because I don’t think we would be where we are today if it wasn’t for how good our scout team was,” said Pytleski.
As they continue their postseason run in the NACC Tournament, Pytleski said there are still several aspects of their game that the Green Knights squad is looking to improve.
“I think we are still just trying to find ways to play a 40-minute game. I think we’ve been really close in some games, playing about 35 or so of how we want to play basketball, but I think the perfect game is still out there. A perfect game for us is just playing 40 minutes of ‘our’ basketball, and I think we are still trying to strive for that and we’ve been close numerous times and we are close to getting there,” said Pytleski.
In the 2024-25 season, the Green Knights went 23-7 overall and 15-3 in conference, taking the NACC Conference Title with a 70-52 win over Wisconsin Lutheran in the championship game.
St. Norbert made it to the second round of the NCAA DIII Tournament before getting knocked out by UW-La Crosse in a 77-67 loss.
This season, Pytleski said he is looking forward to seeing what kind of run the team will make in the postseason amid their seniorless roster.
“I think we’re just excited. For a lot of these guys, it’s new to them to be playing at the college level and I think everyone’s excited for the challenge ahead. We had the potential to get the one or two-seed, so we could have two or three home games in the playoffs, and I think that will be fun for everyone,” said Pytleski.
Regardless of how the Green Knights 2025-26 season comes to an end, Pytleski added that he already has some goals for both himself, and the team for next season.
“I really want our team to get ranked in the top 25 teams in the nation. I think that would be really cool. I’d obviously like to try to win another conference championship and win the conference tournament as well. I think those are my three biggest goals for the team next year,” said Pytleski.
“Also, we host the Christmas tournament every year, and I know we’ve never won it. We’ve taken second all three years I’ve been here and I think that a big goal for us is to win that holiday tournament. I think that would be really cool to do next year, and then make some noise in the NCAA tournament.”
According to the junior guard, Pytleski said this season has been a breakthrough year for him, going from a contributing freshman and sophomore to a leading player.
“This year has been really fun. My first two years I was more of a role player. I played more defense and kind of just would take open shots and good looks and this year I have been shooting the ball a little more than I have the past two years, so that’s been really fun for me. Also, being able to be more of a playmaker for my team on offense has been really great, so it’s been a good year for me so far,” said Pytleski.
The Green Bay native said that going from Green Bay Southwest to St. Norbert has been a blessing because it has allowed him to garner the support of not only his close family and friends, but the local community as well.
“It’s been fun. I have a lot of friends and family that come to games. It’s great to have the support of the community at every game, too. I think that means the world to me. Staying close to Green Bay, I get a lot of grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins coming to games as well,” said Pytleski.
The former Southwest Trojan is averaging 12.1 points per game (ppg) for a total of 303 points (pts) on the season, behind only Stuckey with 357 pts and averaging 13.7 ppg.
Pytleski also added that he feels he would not have been able to have the career he has had without the support of his tight-knit family and their constant competitive relationship.
“My brother Will played at Whitewater. He was a big influence on me growing up. I always figured I wanted to play college basketball just like him. He had a great career at Whitewater — they made the Final Four, which was pretty cool to see,” said Pytleski.
“My sister (Addison) plays at Northern Michigan. She’s having a pretty good year (212 pts, 7.6 ppg). They’re ranked in the top 15 for DII, so that’s pretty cool to see. It always gets competitive between us with our stats and our team’s records.”
“I just think I have the best parents in the world. They come to every game they can. They make trips to Chicago or wherever I’m playing. They’ll get a hotel if they need to. It’s really nice having my parents be so supportive of my basketball career. They’ve been doing this their whole lives, so I just really appreciate it,” added Pytleski.
As Pyteski wraps up his junior year and looks on towards his final season of collegiate basketball next year, he said there are a few things on his mind he has started to focus on outside of basketball.
“I’m going to be graduating with my accounting and finance degree. I’m looking to take my CPA exam and get certified. I have an internship here, locally, this summer in Green Bay with Bauman Associates. From there, I’m planning to just go wherever a job opens up that I’m interested in,” said Pytleski.
Though he said it’s not quite on his mind yet, Pytleski also added that he fully intends to keep basketball in his life beyond his collegiate career, given how much the Green Bay basketball community has given him so far.
“If I’m still in the area after graduation next year, I’ll definitely be coming to a lot of St. Norbert games to watch. I don’t know about college coaching or high school coaching, but I’ve always really looked up to my dad because he coached me, my brother and sister growing up. I really like that idea of coaching my own kids,” said Pytleski.
“There probably is a coaching path for me out there, I just don’t know how high of a level I’d like to go or what that would look like. I kind of like the idea of just sticking to coaching my kids and maybe middle school or elementary school, but we’ll see,” said Pytleski.
Yet, the Green Knights still have business to take care of before their 2025-26 season comes to an end.
“It would be great to see a lot of people from the community coming out to support us in these next few games. We always appreciate people coming out to support us on the court,” said Pytleski.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here