BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. – MADISON, Wis. – Walking into the Kohl Center on the first day of the off-season program in June, Max Klesmit glanced up at the center court scoreboard and spotted a familiar name. Klesmit. There were some other names he recognized, too. Neenah High School basketball players.
“It was cool to see it,” he said. “It was up there for the first couple of weeks of summer.”
In March, the Neenah Rockets defeated Brookfield Central, 64-52, to win the WIAA Division-1 state championship, the school’s first title in 44 years. The scoreboard reflected the Neenah players who were on the floor when the game ended. It included a Klesmit. Cal Klesmit, the younger brother of Max.
In the closing seconds, Neenah coach Lee Rabas inserted Cal Klesmit, a junior, into the game to dribble out the clock. It was out of respect for Klesmit who had missed the season with a torn ACL. During his rehab, Cal could count on support from his older bro, then a sophomore at Wofford College.
“It was hard on him for sure – it was hard on me too, being away from him in South Carolina and not being able to see him and be there for him,” Max Klesmit said. “I’m super proud of how he kept his mentality throughout that whole process. For a 17-year-old kid, at the time, that’s pretty tough.
“Your team ends up winning state and you had to watch the whole thing.”
Cal Klesmit has bounced back stronger than ever during his senior year at Neenah. On Dec. 2, he scored 45 points against Appleton East matching the school record set by none other than Max Klesmit who also burned Appleton East for 45 during the 2019 season. Max watched Cal’s game on live stream.
“It was super nice,” he said, “seeing him back out there and having fun playing again.”
The following day, Max Klesmit had 13 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals in Wisconsin’s 80-77 overtime win against Marquette in Milwaukee. Since transferring from Wofford, he has been a fixture in the starting lineup, an all-around contributor/catalyst and a bona fide team leader.
He also has served as a sounding board for his brother in the recruiting process. During the November signing period, Cal joined Will Ryan’s program at UW-Green Bay. Both are looking forward to the day when the Phoenix and Badgers play, and they can matchup against each other as in-state…
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