Fritz Wegner Passes Away
December 08, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Fred 'Fritz' Wegner, a member of the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame, died Monday, Dec. 4 in Fitchburg, Wis. A memorial service was held Friday in Madison. Wegner was a men's basketball and baseball letterwinner for the Badgers from 1934-36 and was an assistant coach in both sports.
In basketball, Wegner was an assistant under Harold 'Bud' Foster from 1937-59. During that time, UW won two Big Ten titles (1941 and 1947) and the lone NCAA title in school history (1941). He is pictured above with head coach Bud Foster (middle) and fellow assistant coach Ray Patterson (right) during the 1948-49 season.
Wegner also served as an assistant baseball coach from 1937-70. During his time at UW he also served as the Director of Recreational Facilities and taught at the Law School. Wegner was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.
'Coach Wegner always stressed the right things in coaching and understood what coaching was about, helping young people reach their potential on and of the court, ' current UW head coach Bo Ryan said. 'When I was an assistant coach at UW, I couldn 't wait to head over to the Natatorium to start basketball camp in the morning because Coach Wegner's office was there and I knew I would get a chance to listen to him relay anecdotes pertaining to basketball and life that he learned through his many years in the profession.'
