University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire

Joe Merten was inducted into the Blugold Hall of Fame in 2002.

Merten, a 6-7 small forward from Kenosha Tremper, was a member of Ken Anderson’s powerful Blugold squads from 1977 through 1981. Those four teams compiled a 103-23 overall record and a 52-12 conference mark. They won three conference championships and participated in three NAIA National Tournaments in Kansas City, Missouri, twice reaching the semifinals of the 32-team field. Merten started 98 of the 113 games he played for Anderson, scoring 1,193 points with 598 rebounds and 439 assists. Three times, Merten was selected to the All-Conference team and twice to the NAIA All-District team. He was the MVP of the 1981 NAIA District 14 Senior All-Star Game. Merten played with Kevin McHale, Andrew Toney, Larry Smith and Jeff Ruland among others on the 1979 United States team that won the gold medal at the World University Games in Mexico City.

He was drafted in the 10th round by the Utah Jazz in 1981 and played with Utah’s California Summer League team before being released. He was invited to the Milwaukee Bucks camp in 1981 and played in all eight exhibition games before being the last player cut. He tried out with the Indiana Pacers and the Bucks during the summer of 1982 but was again released. He played for the Continental Basketball Associations’s Alberta Dusters in 1981-82 and earned a spot in the CBA’s All-Star game. He began the 1982 season with the Las Vegas Silvers but was traded to the Oshkosh Flyers. The Flyers won a Western Division championship while Merten was playing and he also became the youngest head coach in the CBA when he took over the team for the 1985-86 season. Merten was offered the head coaching position again for the 1986-87 season but turned it down and returned to Eau Claire where he joined Menards as a Building Materials Manager.