Doug Gottlieb was the coach of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men’s basketball team for a week in May 2024 when he went to listen to UWGB Chancellor Michael Alexander speak about the First Nations communities.
UWGB offers a degree in First Nations Studies and was recognized by the American Indian Science and Engineering Society last year for being among the leading schools in the country for supporting Indigenous students and Native learning.
“I knew, but I didn’t really know, the involvement of First Nations within the university,” Gottlieb said. “Chancellor Mike and I had a chance to speak about it. We talk about family and building a community.
“The reason this job is special is that I know it’s the only job in [the Horizon League], I think it’s the only job at this level, where the community actually cares. Then we have this incredible community of Oneida, plus Potawatomi, plus other Nations. But Oneida specifically, who love sports, love Green Bay, wants to be around our program, wants to help grow our program.”
That was made clear again recently when UWGB signed Fort Lewis College sophomore guard Stewart Erhart II.
Gottlieb didn’t recruit Erhart because he’s Native American, even if it turned out to be a huge bonus. It was purely a basketball decision.
The 6-foot-2 Erhart is a force on both ends of the court and led NCAA Division II in steals this season while being named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference defensive player of the year.
The Phoenix has been at a possession deficit far too many times in the recent past, and one of the ways to help change that is by having a player like Erhart who can help force turnovers.
But it’s also impossible to overlook what he will mean to the program in other ways.
Fans who don’t normally attend UWGB games will be there to support him the way they were when former Seymour standout Sandy Cohen III, a member of Oneida Nation, played for the Phoenix from 2017 to 2019.
Oneida Nation ordered what was described back then as a ton of tickets for his debut game.
There was excitement again in Oneida when Erhart’s signing was announced, especially by those in the basketball community.
They now have a player from one of the villages up in Alaska, and they want him to feel like his new community is a home away from home. There will be high school kids watching him. There will be middle school and grade school kids, too.
“I feel like all Natives can connect,” Erhart said. “All Indigenous people. This is an Indigenous school at Fort Lewis, and I’ve met a lot of people for just being Native. They are all accepting.”
The percentage of Native Americans competing in NCAA Division I is low, with fewer than 700 participating in all sports during the 2024-25 season.
Native Americans make up less than 2% of the population in the United States, which makes the pool of potential players smaller to begin with, but it’s just one barrier to overcome.
There often can be a lack of support systems and structure for athletes. It can be difficult to get exposure while living in communities that no college coach has on their recruiting map.
Erhart grew up in Tanana, Alaska, where everybody knows everybody. That’s what happens when the entire community is made up of 200 people.
“Did you look up where his village is?” Gottlieb said. “There is no road out. There is an airport, and no road out.”
That’s why when a Native American player like Erhart does beat the odds, it is celebrated and recognized beyond just his village.