Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
By Tom Archdeacon
Thanks to the persistence of assistant coach Clint Sargent, Bill Wampler now plays for Wright State rather than Green Bay and was a big reason the Raiders held off the visiting Phoenix, 90-84, Saturday at the Nutter Center.
While playing at Regis High School in Eau Claire, Wisc., Wampler got his second-ever college scholarship offer from Green Bay, which was just three hours away from his home near the Minnesota state line.
There would be other interest, too — places like Auburn, Creighton and Davidson — and when he decided he wanted to play out of state, his mom insisted he also find a school known for academics.
He chose Drake and while he had some shining moments there – including making 8 of 11 three pointers in one game – the Bulldogs had back-to-back 7-24 seasons and the losing, along with other things, affected his outlook on his sport, his school and his life.
He decided to transfer and again Green Bay was a frontrunner. And this time he was interested in them.
“I was supposed to transfer there really,” he said. “I know that school pretty well and I know a lot of their players.
“Cody Schwartz, I grew up playing with him. And I know Will Chevalier, too. And I know Coach Herbst (associate head coach Randall Herbst), he recruited me out of high school. He’s a Wisconsin guy and was at Nebraska-Omaha and I took a visit there.”
But as Wampler was preparing to leave Drake, Green Bay initially didn’t have an open scholarship.
