Editor’s note: The Menominee High School Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2024 induction ceremony takes place May 4 at the Pullman House in Menominee. Tickets are on sale at the Superintendent’s office at Blesch School and the Principal’s office at the high school for $35. Each week, the EagleHerald will spotlight one of the 12 inductees. This week’s feature is on Dave Haglund, Class of 1969.
MENOMINEE — Point guards are maestros on the court, and no one conducted the symphony of Menominee boys basketball better than Dave Haglund.
Serving as a vital piece of the Maroons’ hoop dynasty of the late 1960s, Haglund racked up a laundry list of accolades during his time at Menominee High School.
On May 4, the 1969 graduate will collect one more, when Haglund steps into immortality as a member of the Menominee High School Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2024.
The Menominee High School Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at the Pullman House in Menominee.
Local historian and former Menominee Herald-Leader editor Larry Ebsch, himself a member of the Menominee High School Athletic Hall of Fame, said Haglund’s induction is well-deserved recognition.
“I don’t say this lightly, because we’ve had a lot of good point guards at Menominee, but he’s probably the best that I’ve ever seen, both covering the Maroons and as a Maroon fan,” Ebsch opined. “He played with a chip on his shoulder, but was just an outstanding ball player.”
Haglund was a three-year starter for Hall of Fame coach Bob Krysick and was a key cog in Menominee’s 1967 squad that captured the school’s first, and to date, only, State championship in basketball, alongside fellow Maroon greats Pat Miller, Fred Matz, Dewey Bellisle and Bill Jones.
Haglund helped guide the Maroons to consecutive Great Northern Conference titles in 1968 and 1969, three straight District crowns (1967-69), three Regional championships (67-69) and berths in the State semifinals in 1968 and 1969.
Menominee went undefeated (16-0) in the regular season in 1968, becoming only the second Class B team to win the Rudness Trophy in the process.
Haglund started all 65 games that he played in for Menominee, and the Maroons went 55-10 (not counting four forfeits during the 1967 season) with him running the show.
Haglund earned All-GNC Second Team honors as a sophomore, was a First Team All-GNC selection in 1968 and 1969, and was a First Team All-Regional Tournament choice as a junior.
He was Second Team All-U.P. in and First Team All-U.P. the following year. Haglund was also named a three-time All-Twin City performer by the Eagle-Star.
“He was quick and he could run the team. He was a quarterback on the floor who kept the team going in rhythm. He’d get fouled an awful lot, and he was skilled at free throws,” Ebsch said. “He was good on defense as well as offense.”
Haglund led the GNC in assists twice (1968-69) and was second in free throw shooting percentage in consecutive seasons (68-69), including going 70-of-88 from the foul line in 1969, both of which were conference records.
He took home the GNC scoring title as a senior with 222 points, also a GNC record. Haglund finished his career with 911 points, 286 assists and owned a career 76 percent free throw shooting percentage.
After graduation Haglund suited up for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s first men’s basketball team, scoring the program’s first-ever points off an old-fashioned three-point play.
“I’d talk to Coach (David) Buss and he’d tell me about Dave’s spark and fire,” Ebsch said. “The basketball program at UW-GB was so new, but he always spoke very highly of Dave.”
Haglund participated in Legion baseball for coach Roy Jacques and was elected to play in the Fox Valley American Legion All-Star game in 1968. He was also a Little League and Pony League All-Star.
Haglund also attended Northern Michigan University and worked for the City of Menominee for 35 years before retiring in July of 2021.
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