WEST SALEM — Mike Malott smiled on Monday when asked what coaching a high school girls basketball team is like as a retiree.
He used to have to balance that with being a teacher — then an administrator — at West Salem.
But this practice — the first of a new season in Wisconsin — was a special one for Malott, who gave up his longtime job of leading the Panthers when he was hired as the high school’s principal in 2018.
Malott returned when the team needed a new coach near the end of January last season and was hired to continue leading the program after retiring from his job as principal at the end of the 2023-24 school year.
That put a new spin on what he was doing as the Panthers ran through drills under his watch.
“I can tell you I have more time to plan practice,” he said. “It’s a lot different. I’m not far enough into it to get into more specifics, but the last two weeks I was able two watch some old game film and look at some old coaching things on schemes I want to do.
“It’s one of those things where I don’t have to do anything until 3 o’clock (each day) now.”
Malott obviously enjoyed his 12-1 run with the Panthers a year ago on a path that led them to the WIAA Division 2 state tournament at the Resch Center. West Salem has posted a 72-13 record over the past three seasons with two state appearances, and players looked perfectly comfortable learning much more about the coach for whom they played nearly six weeks last winter.
“It was definitely weird at first,” senior Megan Johnson said of the sudden change in coaches. “But sometimes that’s just life. Life can be weird, and you are thrown into uncomfortable situations.
“But you can grow when you are put in those uncomfortable situations, too.”
It can certainly be argued that West Salem (24-5) did grow as it finished off an unbeaten Coulee Conference championship and won its two regional games by an average of 34 points before wins over Onalaska and McFarland took them to Green Bay for the second straight time.
Johnson, a 5-foot-10 forward and four-year starter who has committed to play at NCAA Division II Winona State, leads a loaded and experienced team back to the court as it tries to build on a 28-game conference winning streak and qualify for another state tournament.
With the departure of just one senior from last year’s team, Johnson expects just about every aspect of the team to improve. She also expects that she and her teammates can pick up a better grip of just what Malott wants to see on the court after not getting the chance to implement a good chuck of his preferred style of play for those 13 games.
“He did put in the 1-3-1 (zone defense) last year, and I think we’ll get a lot better at that, along with our man-to-man defense,” said Johnson, who started her school year by placing sixth in the Division 2 singles bracket at the state tennis tournament. “Our defense will be better, and that leads into our transition game.”
The Panthers have made that transition game their calling card during the past three seasons.
Johnson averaged 23 points and eight rebounds per game as a junior, and she is surrounded by familiar faces in seniors Sam Niemeier and junior Josie Brudos as established double-figure scorers. Seniors Brynlee Kelly, Sydney Quick and Makenna Ihle also played plenty of minutes for the Panthers, who begin their season with a nonconference game at La Crosse Central on Nov. 21.
While Malott may not have been coaching when these players began their careers, he was familiar with their abilities before taking over the program. As the school’s principal, Malott has always been a fixture at both boys and girls basketball games.
Johnson, who averaged 10.5 points and 7.3 rebounds as a freshman and 14.3 points and 8.7 rebounds as a sophomore, stood out quickly and continued to impress him as he watched.
“She’s one of these rare kids who can play inside and outside,” Malott said of Johnson, who scored 40 points in West Salem’s win over McFarland in the sectional finals. “She can handle the ball, she can make plays in the post, and she can play with her back to the basket.
“I moved her to point guard last year from time to time. She just has that rare skill set where you can put here wherever you want or feel there is a need for her.”
