Jan. 17 -- MITCHELL -- With the addition of a friendly and familiar face, the Mitchell High School boys basketball team's coaching staff grew by one this season.
Cole Weier, a former student manager for the Kernels, now sits toward the front of the bench as a volunteer assistant coach. While Weier's seat position may have changed from his time as a student manager, the 2023 MHS product feels he's back where he belongs.
"I just thought it would be fun and wanted to do it because I really like hanging out with the guys and the coaches," Weier said.
So when the call came that he was approved to become a volunteer assistant for the Kernels this season, Weier was all-in from the start.
"I was ready," he said. "I knew it was go-time."
The son of former MHS assistant coach Chris Weier, Cole Weier grew up around the boys basketball program and had plenty of exposure to sports.
Football is his favorite, and during one MHS practice, Weier can't help but take a few glances at his phone, where he's pulled up a live stream of the college football semifinal Orange Bowl game between Notre Dame and Penn State. Weier, who turns 20 next month, is also an avid fan of the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers.
Through his sixth-grade year, Weier was able to compete in sports, too. Along the way, he tried his hand at just about everything, including basketball, wrestling, soccer, football and baseball.
But as a seventh grader in 2016, Weier was diagnosed with spinocerebellar ataxia with oculomotor apraxia, a rare degenerative neuromuscular disease, by doctors at the University of Iowa.
As a freshman, Weier had to start using a walker, and by his junior year, he required an electric-powered wheelchair.
But those circumstances couldn't keep Weier away from sports.
Well before spending his senior year as a student manager, Weier fulfilled a similar role as a seventh grader on the basketball team under then-coach Pat Moller, who's now a varsity assistant.
"Unfortunately, sports were taken away from him, but this allows him to be a part of the team and be another one of the guys around the locker room," Chris Weier said. "You always want to see your kids be a part of the group and enjoy what they're doing. This is something that Cole really looks forward to, so it's fun to see the smile on his face and joy in his eyes when he's doing this."
During his first year out of high school, Weier went looking for a similar opportunity to the one he had as an MHS senior. He spent some time with the Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball program in 2023-24, but Weier missed the camaraderie of being part of a team on a more full-time basis.
So, ahead of this season, Weier reached out to MHS head coach Ryker Kreutzfeldt with hopes of rejoining the Kernels program. According to Kreutzfeldt, there was hardly a decision to be made.
"Cole's so well-liked by everybody and always looks for ways to help. But most importantly, Cole loves Kernel basketball," Kreutzfeldt said. "Once you're a part of it, then you don't want to miss out on it anymore. So when he asked if he could help out again this year, it was an easy yes."
After the Kernels finished a 70-44 victory at Watertown to open the 2024-25 season back in December, the team surprised Weier with the game ball from his first win as a coach.
"I totally wasn't expecting that," Weier said, "but it was really cool."
"He was ecstatic about it," added Chris Weier. "I don't think he stopped smiling for about three days after that."
But it wasn't just a token gesture. The celebration created a lasting memory for everyone in the locker room.
"Just to see Cole's face light up, he was grinning ear to ear with all the guys yelling and screaming for him," Kreutzfeldt said. "That was a special moment."
"The way the whole team rallied around him in that moment, it highlighted his contribution to this program," Moller added. "It's a big deal for him, but it's a big deal for all the guys and for us coaches, too."
A bright smile and positive attitude have endeared Weier to so many, and it's not hard to see why the 2022 MHS Homecoming King is universally beloved by his peers and coaches.
Though quiet much of the time, Weier is no stranger to brightening the day of others with a humorous remark or perhaps even a simple high-five. He's also known to give friends and family a hard time about their favorite sports teams.
Bonds were especially strong between Weier and his classmates in the MHS graduating class of 2023. During Weier's senior year as student manager, he had seven senior classmates on the Kernels' roster. That year, MHS made a run to the state title game, providing many memories. And Weier's contributions hardly went unnoticed.
"Cole's just always happy and has a smile on his face, and it was great knowing that we always had someone to pick us up (emotionally)," said A.J. Siemsen, a friend of Weier's from the MHS class of 2023. "Maybe you'd get a little frustrated at practice or get taken out of the game. Cole was always there to give you a high-five and maybe make you laugh, even when times were tough."
It's that friendly demeanor and ability to keep the mood light-hearted that have made Weier an invaluable addition to the Kernels' program, both as a manager and now as a coach.
"Cole never has a bad day. He's always smiling and brings good energy every day, and he's a fun kid to be around," Kreutzfeldt said. "He's just a great kid, and you want as many of those people in your program as you can get."
"He's always there, and the guys look forward to seeing him," added Moller. "It's to the point now where if he wasn't there, we would miss him, and that just speaks volumes to his importance on this team."
This year, Weier has another close connection with the varsity roster, as his younger brother, Collin, is a sophomore for the Kernels. Weier hopes to continue his role on the coaching staff at least through Collin's senior season in 2026-27.
Though they have a close relationship, both downplay the significance of being brothers on the same team. However, in his first season on the MHS varsity bench, Collin has quickly developed an appreciation for Cole's role and how the Kernels interact with him.
"Everyone welcomes him so well," Collin Weier said. "He's treated just like everybody else on the team, like he's a player."