Green Bay men’s basketball super fan stays loyal through the highest of the highs and lowest of the lows | WFRV
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Whether the Green Bay Phoenix men’s basketball team plays historically bad or great, the same fan sits at the end of the team bench. Meet Jim Sarow.
Sarow is a proud UWGB alumnus who began watching Phoenix hoops during his freshman year in 1995. Nearly three decades later, he made it his mission to “give back to the university that gave (him) so much.” So, Sarow became a super fan.
Fellow Green Bay fans may recognize Sarow from his “Phoenix Give and Go” recap videos on X (formerly Twitter). He passionately covers each game with a quick hit and shirks any embarrassment that comes from publicly and unabashedly supporting a team.
Because Sarow truly feels like it’s his job to help the program and players feel supported. “I believe in their ability sometimes more than they believe in it themselves.”
Sarow first spoke to Local 5 News amid Green Bay’s 11-game losing streak last season. However, on the day his story was supposed to air, it was scrapped because the university fired head coach Will Ryan. But after catching up with the fan a year (and many more wins) later, he still passionately discussed the importance of supporting the team.
“I’ve watched a ton of basketball. An unhealthy amount of basketball. I can tell you that the most successful teams have people that care.”
Which is why Sarow drives the nearly two hours from his home in Milwaukee to Phoenix games at the Resch or Kress Centers – a tradition he’s practiced for a decade. He’s only missed a handful of home games over the last ten years and made it a point to wear his Phoenix green to at least one away game a season, too.
Sarow carried the same passion for the Phoenix when the team was the second-worst in NCAA Division 1 as he does now, with Green Bay vying for a Horizon League title in what’s on pace to be the best season-to-season turnaround in division history.
The University is grateful for the support. “We need more Jims out there,” said Green Bay Athletic Director Josh Moon. Dedication from alumni, especially as the program goes through a major culture shift, is what “differentiates” Green Bay from other schools, Moon added.
All credit for the turnaround goes to head coach Sundance Wicks. But despite the immediate success in his first season, Wicks knows the job isn’t done yet. The Phoenix has four regular season games remaining before the conference tournament, and the coach wants all the support he can get.
“We need the Blue Bloods and the die-hards and the blood and the bricks people to come out. To show up and show out for us. We need them to be there because there’s a hard stretch coming down the pipe. We need everything. All the mojo, the juice, the love, we need it,” Wicks said of the final two Phoenix home games.
The coach’s call to action was heard loud and clear by one fan. It’s a message Sarow’s believed in for almost 30 years. Because supporting his alma mater? “It’s just a part of who I am now.”
