A student athlete on Fox Valley Tech’s men’s basketball team has something in common with hoops icon Wilt Chamberlain.

This comparison to the late basketball legend has a connection through Joe Scheithauer, a member of the FVTC men’s basketball team and student in the college’s Business Management program. On Wednesday, the 6’4 Rib Lake, Wisconsin native grabbed a state junior college record 36 rebounds during a game against UW-Fox Valley in Menasha. Chamberlain’s biggest rebounding game during his college career was also 36, set in 1958 as a member of the NCAA Division 1 Kansas Jayhawks. Chamberlain is the all-time leading rebounder in NBA history, and the 7’1 center ranks fifth all-time in scoring.

“This record is huge for not only Joe, but our program as well,” says Andy Harbath, head coach of the Foxes and member of the college’s student recruitment team. “His accomplishment is really a head-turner when you think about dominating this aspect of basketball at any level. It takes tremendous strength, discipline, and focus to achieve what Joe did. The skills needed to earn such a performance are the very traits we expect of our student athletes in the classroom as well.”

Scheithauer’s feat ranks in the top 10 all-time nationally inside the scorebooks of the 67-year history of the National Junior College Athletic Association. 

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