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(WFRV) — On June 5, 2026, UW-Oshkosh announced that veteran head women’s basketball coach Brad Fischer would be departing the program in pursuit of a coaching opportunity at the NCAA Division I level.
It was later reported that Fischer would be joining the coaching staff at the University of Nebraska (women’s basketball).
Coach Fischer joined Sports Xtra on Sunday to discuss his decision, click the video above for the full interview.
TRANSCRIPT:
FOWLER: Brad, appreciate you jumping on the program tonight, and we’ll jump right into this. How are you feeling about your decision to leave UW-Oshkosh and take on this new adventure at Nebraska?
FISCHER: Yeah. Right now, it hasn’t sunk in that my program is not going to be my program anymore. And I think that’s probably the hardest part. It’s 14 years of really deep roots that I’ve got to pull out of the ground and go do something else. So tons of mixed emotions. I’m just really excited for what’s ahead, but a lot of doors closing behind me that are really tough to say goodbye to. So I think there’s going to be a big period here of a little bit of a void where maybe I don’t feel like I’m at home in either place. It’s just going to be weird. And there’s still conversations happening every day with people that I’m potentially seeing for the last time. So there’s going to be a good month here where nothing feels really settled.
FOWLER: I think any coach spending 14 years in a program is a long time. That’s a lot of practices, games and honestly just a lot of life in general. Does it feel that way when you sit back and reflect on your time here in northeast Wisconsin?
FISCHER: You know, I’ve thought about the start and everything that was necessary at that time, or what I thought was necessary, to try to build a program that people would be proud of. I met my wife nine years ago here, so there’s a huge piece in the middle of this journey where my life changed dramatically. I became a better coach then. I became a better person then. She taught me a lot about empathy and even better ways to treat the girls and the team that I coach. There’s just so many different sides of it. Every group, every recruiting class, every senior day, all those things are kind of just flooding back now. Fourteen years, when you step back, doesn’t sound like that big of a number, but man, it’s 400-some games and just the amount of memories that are going with it is incredible.
FOWLER: And probably the worst part in all of this is having those conversations with your staff and your players that you’re moving on. How hard was that for you, and how did you go about having those conversations?
FISCHER: It all happens fast at the higher levels. They were ready to move quickly and make sure that every “i” was dotted and every “t” was crossed. So I didn’t get a chance to tell our players until last Friday. I knew for a couple days that this is probably where it was going to go, and I just didn’t want to have that conversation with them until I knew it was going to happen for sure and not have to put out a fire that didn’t need to be put out. So I think for us, the biggest thing was making sure they heard everything from me for the first time, which I believe they did.
There were so many tears. I had a really hard time getting all of it out. Our administrators were on the call with us, and I think they were a little embarrassed for me. I just couldn’t say what I needed to say without losing it because I’d already turned the page for next year’s team and had those seniors ready to go. I’m upset I won’t get to coach Sammy and Val and Liz and Hope and Ashlyn, and then the transfers that were coming in. It’s just the whole group I’m not going to get senior days with, and it was just really difficult.
I was caught in the middle of trying to explain that it wasn’t supposed to be the time this was going to happen. It was an opportunity that I just couldn’t pass up. It checked every box for what I wanted the next step of my career to look like. But at the same time, it had nothing to do with them. It had nothing to do with this place not being good enough for me or not feeling like I could get what I needed to out of Oshkosh.
So it was a lot of love pouring out and trying to help them understand that it took a special opportunity and a near-perfect place, from the outside, for me to say yes. There’s been opportunities over the years that we looked at seriously and thought about, and there was just nothing that was ever better than the job I had. I wanted them to know it took something really special for me to walk away, and I wanted to make sure they knew that they were the reason it was so special here.
FOWLER: But then on the other side of things, you also get to see the outpouring of love and support everywhere from fans of UW-Oshkosh women’s basketball and friends of your program. How validating was seeing all of that, knowing you’re leaving this place having done a good job?
FISCHER: The amount of messages I’ve gotten from people that came to games and said they used to live in Lincoln or they follow the Huskers, it’s been across the board positive. I had an alum from a couple of years ago who is originally from Nebraska and was, I think, in tears on the other side of the call. She got coached by me, and now I’m going to coach the Huskers.
There is doubt when you’re in one place for 14 years and you let other things pass by or are chosen for other things. Now you finally make the move, and you want to feel great about it across the entire stretch from making the decision to making the move. To have that come across my screen, through phone calls, and from the outpouring from people in the Valley and in Green Bay has been incredible. That made me feel like I made the right decision being here for 14 years and that I’m making the right decision at the right time to go pursue the next challenge.
FOWLER: Coach, so often we as reporters ask those in charge how they built a program. I’m sorry, I’m going to have to ask. Everyone’s response is a little bit different to this question, but how did you build such a winner at Oshkosh?
FISCHER: You know, Darryl Sims, our athletic director, talked to me a couple times here over the last few days about where things were at when he hired me and what he was hoping for, and just what’s come of it. I’m really proud that we never compromised our beliefs. We never cut a player from our program because they weren’t good enough or because they didn’t play enough minutes. We never had a player transfer out of our program with eligibility left and go play somewhere else.
We retained at the highest level in our conference by a wide margin. So we had the right players. We never compromised our standards. We never cut corners. We never broke NCAA rules to get players. We have as clean a record as a program could have and just brought in great people who bought into doing things the right way and playing basketball the way I think it should be played to win games.
If you can live your values and recruit players and parents that believe in that, it becomes a really special experience. I’m most proud of where things are at now. They could run a practice right now without a head coach. They’re ready to play basketball together. They’re ready to lead together.
The last time a head coach left Oshkosh on the men’s side, they won a national championship the next year. So I’m rooting for whoever is next in this seat to take them two games further. I’m really proud that we never had to compromise what we believe to build the program and have it be as successful as it was.
FOWLER: Coach, to those that supported UW-Oshkosh women’s basketball over the years, what would be your message to them? What would you want to say to them?
FISCHER: It’s what made it really tough to leave. It became a big deal at Oshkosh. Sometimes they waited a little bit toward the end of the season because they knew we had postseason play coming up, which was a great treat. To always have people feel like they expect you to play in March was special.
For us to host the sectional in my final year and advance to a Final Four on our floor, and having a thousand people in the stands on a night with a two-foot snowstorm starting, it’s funny how it all culminated with eight seniors that were trying to get back there. My wife always jokes that we’d go to supper clubs or go out to eat and I couldn’t wear logos because people would come over and talk about the last game they were at or how excited they were for the season.
It was just a special place to be for 14 years. It wasn’t necessarily in that spot when we started, but people deserved a winner and they deserved a team they would be proud of. I thought we put a team on the floor every night that they could be proud of. In turn, they supported us and gave us everything they had.
I could not be prouder or more thankful of the Oshkosh community, and I hope they’ll continue to support what I believe will continue to be a really successful program.
FOWLER: Coach, we appreciate you taking the time. Good luck in the Cornhusker State, and we wish you nothing but the best. I’ll send it back to Kyle.
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