Fayette High School graduate Dalton Collins signed a letter of intent last Friday to continue his basketball and academic career at Western Tech, located in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

“I’m looking to get out of my comfort zone and go somewhere else,” said Collins. “Western is not a super big school, it is a junior college and only puts a varsity team on the court.” That fact alone assures Collins the ability to play in his freshman year.

Collins will be joining a Cavalier squad that finished 9-17 last season and 5-9 in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference.

Playing for head coach Eric Wuensch, Collins will be expected to continue on the path he was on at Fayette, being a shooter and playmaker. “Coach Wuensch knows I’m a good shooter and I can handle the ball and that I have a good basketball IQ,” said Collins. “He just wants me to play and be calm.”

Going from being a Falcon to a Cavalier, Collins feels he will be a good fit at Western while pursuing goals in business and entrepreneurship. 

Moving to Fayette in January of 2021, Collins fit very smoothly into the Fayette basketball program, at that time adding another aspect to coach Jon Bishop’s Falcon offense. During the 2021-22 season, Collins was a leader on the team, scoring a team-high 455 points his senior year while averaging 3.7 assists per game. Collins had a 42% field goal percentage to go along with his 31% 3-point shooting.

“When Dalton got here about a year-and-a-half ago, it was easy for the team to accept him,” said Bishop. “You could see the caring and the heart that he had. So when you see that in a player, it’s real easy to wrap yourself around it. He had already built relationships with a lot of our guys outside of the court, so it was just a natural fit, and it really helped our team to have somebody come in and just be able to transition into what we were doing.”

In addition to his offensive prowess, Collins also shined on the defensive end of the floor, with 21 steals while averaging 4.1 rebounds per game.

“It’s always nice to have your guys move on and do something they love to do,” said Bishop. “Dalton has shown a lot of passion and pride for basketball, and I think it’s great that he gets this opportunity.”

It seems like he’ll be able to get playing time as a freshman,” said Bishop. “This is something he has looked forward to for a long time and when you get to see your players experience that, it’s a great thing.

Collins said he is thankful for the support he received from the Fayette community. “The community has been pretty supportive since I moved here. I’d like to thank my family and especially coach Bishop. I wouldn’t be here without them and coach for accepting me into the program.”

While Western does not have a golf team, another area in which Collins excelled, he plans on taking advantage of area golf courses to continue to hone his skills and be able to transfer later to a school that will allow him to play both basketball and golf.

Collins also was a standout on the district champion Fayette football squad as well as the baseball team.

Classes will start for Collins in September on the Wisconsin campus.