Mike had an outstanding four-year basketball career as a Blugold from 1983-87, then played one stellar season of football after his basketball eligibility was complete in the fall of 1987.

Mike played in 109 career basketball games as a Blugold but enjoyed his best season as a senior when he started all 30 games and shared team MVP honors with Chuckie Graves. That year, the Blugolds won the Wisconsin State University Conference championship and advanced to the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, finishing with a 26-4 record.

The 1986-87 season was the first for the three-point field goal and Mike once hit five straight treys in a game, a percentage record that still stands. He averaged 12.3 points a game from his guard position and also averaged 3.8 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game. During his four seasons with the Blugolds, the team compiled a 99-21 overall record.

A three-year team captain, Mike was All-Conference, NAIA All-District 14 and NAIA All-American Honorable Mention his senior year.

As a football player, he led the '87 Blugolds in pass receiving with 42 catches for 778 yards and seven touchdowns. The yardage is still the seventh best in school history and the TD total is the sixth best. In a game against La Crosse, he had 184 receiving yards, also the sixth best in school history.

Mike earned a degree in Communication Arts from UWEC in 1988 and his education degree in Speech and English in 1991. He received his master's in Athletic Administration in 2004 and is currently the Dean of Athletics at Eau Claire Memorial High School following a seven-year term as the Athletic Director at Chippewa Falls High School.

Mike's career also included a year as the Blugold assistant men's coach (1989-90), a year as the Blugold assistant women's coach (1990-91) with Lisa Stone, a year as head boys' golf coach at Wausau East High School (1992-93), four years as the head basketball coach at Durand High School (1993-97) and two years as a teacher at Chi-Hi (1997-99) when he also was an assistant boys' basketball coach and head boys' golf coach.

A Certified Athletic Administrator, Blair is a member of the Wisconsin Athletic Directors Association Scholarship Committee. He initiated "Project Redbird" which was a community service program for athletics at Chi-Hi and is continuing that program at Memorial as "Project Eagle."

Mike and his wife Cari have three children: Madison, 9; Drew, 6; and Nolan, 5.

Return to Hall of Fame