Green Bay Southwest names Mario Charles as new boys basketball coach

Mario Charles has reasonable expectations for his first season as the Green Bay Southwest boys basketball coach after being hired this week to replace Rodney Owens . There is no talk of making the WIAA state tournament for the first time since 1974 or a hint of capturing a Fox River Classic Conference title for the second time in program history. “The biggest challenge, I guess, is trying for us to win at least a conference game,” Charles said.

That’s how difficult the road has been for the Trojans the last three seasons. Southwest has gone a combined 3-72 overall during that span, including 0-54 in FRCC play. Its last league win came against Green Bay Preble on Feb.

24, 2023, which also marked the final season for former longtime coach John Polkowski. Polkowski led the Trojans for a decade and is now at Pulaski . Southwest went 12-13 in his last campaign, but they were 10-8 in league play and finished in a tie for fourth with Ashwaubenon in the 10-team conference.

Charles is now the next hope to turn the program around after Owens stepped down. This will be his first varsity head coaching job, but he has plenty of experience working with Green Bay public school teams. He spent the past three seasons as an assistant under Rick Rosinski at Preble and previously was an assistant for three seasons at Green Bay West under former coach Jerry Overstreet.