Neenah coaching legend Einerson influenced many on, off the court

Ron Einerson, one of the state’s most revered coaches and educators, passed away June 22. He was 93.

Einerson had a 556-235 career record and led Neenah High School to WIAA boys basketball state titles in 1975 and 1978 and four state runner-up finishes. The Rockets enjoyed sustained success under his guidance, making the state tournament 10 times and winning 12 conference championships.

“Ron’s influence on Neenah basketball has been amazing and will continue to be an influence on all of us,” Neenah girls basketball coach Andy Braunel said. “He truly epitomized what ‘Neenah with Pride’ means and represents.”

Einerson was a U.S. Army veteran and spent 17 months in Korea. He was president of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association and also a Hall of Fame member. He taught social studies from 1968 to 1993.

Neenah boys basketball coach Lee Rabas said Einerson elevated the Rockets basketball program. Rabas likened Einerson’s impact on the program to a conversation he had with ESPN analyst Pete Thamel concerning AAU tournaments in Wisconsin.

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“I happened to bring up a story about UW-Stevens Point and [Thamel] goes, ‘Oh, you know Stevens Point is a known entity,’ like Stevens Point – that’s a thing in college athletics,” Rabas said. “And that’s what Ron Einerson did for Neenah – it’s a known entity.”

Rabas mentioned Einerson was “always gracious” when interacting with the Rockets basketball program and pointed to Einerson being at the very beginning of the WBCA’s formation.

“I’m at the June Jam right know, which is a Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association event – an NCAA-certified event,” Rabas said. “Back when the WBCA started in 1975, Ron Einerson was the president and Dick Bennett the vice president. Now we are over 5,000 members and doing a lot of great things. So you know his reach transcended just Neenah. It was statewide.”

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Former Neenah girls basketball player Teri Shannon played in the inaugural WIAA girls state tournament in 1976. She said Einerson was always willing to help the girls program and girls coach Jean Kessler.

“He was a very big advocate for us, and I always give him a little props,” Shannon said. “Jean would go to Ron and ask for assistance or help with certain things, and he was always very willing and helpful to her, with plays or whatever she needed. And so I give him props because they were a dynasty as well, and he was known as such a good coach, and he always took the time to give Jean any assistance needed and he even attended some of our games. which is pretty cool.”

Rabas added Einerson was well-respected in coaching circles.

“I remember our first fish fry that we did as a fundraiser,” Rabas said. “I had Tom Desotell, Coach Einerson and Don Gosz. They were talking about coaching back in the ’70s and ’80s. And one time we had [longtime Cuba City] coach Jerry Petitgoue here a few years back when we were hosting our all-star game meeting at the old fieldhouse. And [Petitgoue] just started telling me about all the times he had reached out to Coach Einerson and everything he did to help him out early in his career.

“[Einerson] was an iconic figure. He built a standard that the rest of us are blessed to try to maintain.”

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This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Neenah coaching legend Einerson influenced many on, off the court