Baumgartner commits to UW-SP’s basketball program

With about a month to go in his stellar high school athletic career, Medford senior Logan Baumgartner finalized his collegiate plans on Friday, announcing on social media that he’s committed to play basketball at UW-Stevens Point.

Baumgartner joins a Pointer program that is in a transition period. UW-SP went 10-15 overall in 2022-23 and was just 3-15 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. At season’s end, the program relieved 18-year veteran head coach Bob Semling of his duties.

Baumgartner said Friday he was on the verge of committing to the Pointers at the time, but held off until the coaching change was completed. UW-SP announced the hiring of new head coach, Kent Dernbach, last week.

Dernbach is someone who is very familiar to the Baumgartner family, Logan said, and his previous success affirmed his commitment. An Almond native, Dernbach was an associate head coach at Point from 2011 to 2017 and won eight games as interim head coach in the 2016-17 season before a six-year run as head coach at UW-La Crosse. There, Dernbach’s teams were ranked in the NCAA Division III top 25 in each of the last five seasons. He posted a 99-46 record, which included the best five-year span in the program’s history in more than 70 years. He is the all-time win percentage leader at UWL and was named WIAC Coach of the Year in 202021.

Baumgartner was a first-team Division 2 All-State selection this year by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association and earned honorable mention last year. He is the Great Northern Conference’s two-time Player of the Year and Medford’s all-time leading scorer with 1,749 points. This year, he averaged 20.3 points in 27 games, 6.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.0 steals. He shot 45.4% overall from the field and 33.8% (74 of 219) from 3-point range. He added a team-high 15 blocked shots and knocked down 79.5% of his free throws (97 of 122).

The Raiders won Great Northern Conference championships in three of Baumgartner’s four seasons, going 45-3 in that time. Medford’s overall varsity record during the time Baumgartner and his senior classmates spent in the program was 86-20. The Raiders have won three straight WIAA Division 2 regional championships and made the sectional finals last year.

Baumgartner also has been an All-GNC performer for Medford in football and baseball. Baumgartner’s father, Kirk, a Colby High School alum, was a recordsetting quarterback for UW-SP’s football program in the late 1980s.