CBS 58's Hometown Athlete: Luke Haertle is finding his way at South Dakota State

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) - Hartland native Luke Haertle's college career has taken him from his home state of Wisconsin playing for the Badgers, to Winona, Minnesota and the Winona State Warriors, and now Brookings, South Dakota with South Dakota State.

In all three stops, he's been able to play close to home as he did facing off against the Milwaukee Panthers this season.

"Just such a blessing, I'm so thankful that I got to go out there and feel the support from everybody that's helped me throughout my childhood and everything like that," said Haertle.

Haertle is coming off averaging 17 points game for Division II Winona State. With the Jackrabbits, he adjusts to a new role.

"I think I can do a lot of different things on the court that sometimes get overlooked or just aren't really the flashy things," said Haertle. "I'm going to do my best to try to help us win, whether that's me scoring 15 or me scoring zero and grabbing 10 rebounds. It's one of my final years playing college basketball so I just want to be really enjoyable and really successful. So, grab as many W's as we can and we'll go from there."

Haertle's SDSU squad has made the NCAA tournament in two of the last four seasons out of the Summit League. To do it this year, he thinks his team just has to come together.

"There are so many guys on our team that are in new roles, and at the end of a game it helps to have experience in those roles," said Haertle. "I think we're all just still growing and still trying to connect and really become a force."