Dreams come true

The following is another “Have Fun or Get Out of the Way” column by Don Leighton and Mike Granlund and their alter egos, Lance Boyle and Billy Pirkola, which runs occasionally in the Superior Telegram.

Every little kid who picks up a basketball or plays catch with a baseball in the yard dreams of playing in the big time.

Two Northwestern High School student-athletes made that dream officially come true last week when they simultaneously signed offers to compete in college at the Division 1 level.

With family behind them and high school coaches and teammates in attendance at the commons area of the high school, Donnie Hissa signed on to play baseball for the Irish of Notre Dame and Steve Tecker signed to play basketball for the South Dakota Coyotes.

The two basketball teammates took separate routes to achieve their dreams. Hissa played almost every sport he could find. Name it and he excelled; hockey, baseball, basketball, football, hunting and golf all have occupied his leisure time. Academically Hissa is an A student.

He chose Notre Dame after a campus visit where he was impressed by the great atmosphere and history of the school, located in South Bend, Ind. Hissa said it was “a great feeling” as he walked the campus. Notre Dame plays in the Big East Conference and is nationally ranked in baseball, where the Irish will use Hissa as a pitcher. The pitching coach at Notre Dame previously worked with major league star Curt Schilling.

Tecker became enamored with just one sport — basketball. While he dabbled at other sports in the past, a great passion for round ball found him concentrating on that sport after his freshman season. Along with older brother Deo, he could be found on every court in the area at one time or another.

An All-State selection last year for the 25-1 Tigers, Tecker spent his summers competing against the best players in the nation on the AAU circuit in tournaments from Pennsylvania to California. Tecker chose South Dakota after a campus visit to the school, located in Vermilion, S.D. He liked the friendly atmosphere and the opportunity to play right away at the Division 1 level.

South Dakota opens up play next year in Wisconsin with games against the Badgers and the Marquette Golden Eagles. The Badgers’ top recruit is Tecker’s former AAU teammate, Eau Claire North’s Evan Anderson.

Both Hissa and Tecker have hoped to play at the college level for some time. Hissa began to dream about the big time as soon as he started playing baseball in the Oulu program at age five. Tecker’s thoughts of big time came around sixth grade, a little over a year before he first started dunking the basketball.

Both student-athletes have been blessed with great family support and tremendous coaching.

“Gramma” Joanne Miller remembers tossing the ball to Hissa when he was in diapers, and grandparents Andy and Irma Del Williams have been a great influence on Tecker’s life.

Dan Cowley has coached both in basketball with great success for the Northwestern Tigers, and Steve Lahti, a St. Scholastica Hall of Fame baseball player himself, has been a solid guide for Hissa’s progress as a prep pitcher.

Steve Tecker is the son of Johnnie and Deanna Tecker, and Donnie Hissa is the son of John and Gina Hissa.

With their college decision made, both Tecker and Hissa can now concentrate on their final high school year in the classroom and in sports, and young kids all over can point to them and realize that dreams really can come true.

Opinions and story ideas can be e-mailed to dleigh1273@aol.com or wgranlund@centurytel.net.

Tags: have fun or get out of the way, collections, sports, northwestern, tigers, baseball, basketball