Haferbecker to be inducted into WBCA Hall of Fame
Shelli Haferbecker
Award-winning basketball coach Shelli (Yenter) Haferbecker is one of eight Wisconsin high school basketball coaches to be inducted into the 2025 Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The group joins a selection of players, college coaches, assistant coaches, and friends of the game honored at a banquet in Wisconsin Dells September 28.
Haferbecker was born in 1974 in Nelsonville, the daughter of Chet and Faye Yenter. According to her family, at the age of two, she would grab a basketball on her own and go out in the driveway to shoot hoops where her dad put up a small hoop for her. She always had the love of the game, and her dad spent endless hours out on the driveway practicing with her. He instilled a hard work ethic that carried over into her coaching. Shelli and her younger sister, Heidi, both attended the Tomorrow River Schools where Shelly played volleyball, basketball, and softball. She received a full ride Division 1 scholarship to play basketball at Chicago State University. She transferred to UW-Stevens Point for her Senior year and did her student teaching at Amherst, graduating with a teaching degree and a minor in Psychology.
Beginning her coaching career at Amherst, her first-year team went on to win the Division 3 state championship.
She would go on to take her team to state six out of the 11 years that she coached. With her oldest child more involved in sports at that point Haferbecker decided she needed more time at home and retired. In her last season, she took her team all the way to win a state championship. After taking a 10-year break, Haferbecker came back to coach a group of girls for a year and missed going to state on a nail-biter sectional final. Since then, she has focused on helping out wherever she could with her youngest son’s sports and being able to watch his events.
As head varsity coach, Haferbecker won two state championships, one state runner-up, six sectional championships, and seven conference championships, compiling a record of 203-64. She has been chosen as the Associated Press Woman’s State Basketball Coach of the Year, WBCA Coach of the Year, Appleton Post Crescent Coach of the Year, Stevens Point Journal Coach of the Year, and Conference Coach of the Year multiple times.
During her 12 years at Amherst, Coach Haferbecker’s teams thrived off high intensity full court defense and transition offense. They wore their opponents down for four quarters with their 2-2-1 full court trapping, pressure defense. She said that she felt if you put enough defensive pressure on teams with a full court press, have the ball change hands enough, and take the ball out of the best ball handler’s hands, then you will cause the other team to make mental and physical mistakes. Those turnovers and steals will lead to high percentage shots in the way of layups.
Haferbecker has three children that she’s coached in different sports, including basketball. Her oldest, Lexi, is a nurse and is married to Cole, and the couple have a baby boy, Leo. Haferbecker’s eldest son, Cayden, is a successful welder and has a girlfriend named Grace. Her youngest son, Cameron, just graduated from high school and is going to college to be a mechanical engineer. His girlfriend is Mary.
Haferbecker said that she would like to thank her parents for supporting her throughout her coaching career and helping to watch her three children when she was coaching. She also would like to thank her whole family, her best friend Wendy, and other friends and family for always being there for her. Finally, she would like to thank the WBCA for this special recognition and the honor to be inducted into the WBCA Hall of Fame.