EAU CLAIRE— Dalton Banks and Caden Boser are names familiar to any Eau Claire high school basketball fan.
The 2020 grads, from North and Memorial High School respectively, each made marks on their program throughout their high school careers, both setting their school’s all-time scoring records. Long past the days of repping blue and purple, Banks and Boser now don red as they play their final year of college basketball together at Illinois State.
It’s a fitting conclusion for the pair who became friends long before meeting on the court as rivals. Growing up just ten minutes from one another, Banks and Boser met through youth sports and formed a friendship that grew while attending Delong Middle School. Once Banks headed off to North and Boser to Memorial, the two took an already exciting rivalry to the next level.
“Growing up, I was always a North superfan and I really looked up to the guys that played there before me, so it was surreal to get a chance to actually be on that stage,” Banks said. “To this day, I don’t think there’s a rivalry I feel more intensely about than North versus Memorial.”
The effect the two had on Eau Claire basketball was electric, according to Memorial basketball coach Chad Brieske. Huskies v. Old Abes tickets sold out as students packed in the gym to see the stars and their teams play. Over the course of those four years, the teams were tightly matched with the Huskies barely edging out the Old Abes 8-9 in a post-season game.
Banks and Boser were both huge contributors to their team’s success. Banks became the Huskies’ all-time leading scorer as a junior, was a two-time Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) first team selection and earned a spot on The Associated Press’ top two All-State teams. Boser holds the Memorial all-time scoring and all-time rebound records, made All-Northwestern first team twice and earned an honorable mention for the WBCA’s All-State team.
“The highlight of my basketball career was just the rivalry that we had with North and Dalton. Those were the games you looked forward to every year,” Boser said. “It’s not very common that people get to say that they played against their best friend and then you both ended up one of the best players on your respective teams.”
The two remained close and kept in contact when they diverged paths for college. Both began college playing Division I basketball, with Banks attending Southern Illinois University and Boser going to the University of Kentucky-Kansas City.
Banks transferred to ISU in 2023 for his senior year. Both Banks and Boser have a fifth year of eligibility in college sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While Banks decided to stay with the Redbirds and pursue his master’s degree in sports management, down south Boser was looking for a change and entered the transfer portal.
Half-joking, Boser reached out to his Banks about the prospect of playing together for their final year of basketball and sent a highlight reel of himself. Banks was immediately on board, and sent the information to his coach who eventually reached out to Boser to check out the program.
“Dalton was obviously the foot in the door, but everything else here is perfect for me too — the culture, the staff and the players — it’s just a great basketball environment,” Boser said. “I ended up committing and now we’re here playing our last year together and I cannot imagine a better ending than that.”
It didn’t take long for the Redbird community to notice the special bond the two have. It’s quite rare to have two players who grew up together, and the pair are the only two from the same hometown on the team, Boser said. When the two assist to one another, the community refers to them as the “Eau Claire Connection.” Off the court the pair is not less connected and actually live together.
“College athletics is hard. It’s definitely been some of the hardest years of my life in terms of the physical stuff you go through, but also the mental and emotional stuff,” Banks said. “To have Caden, my best friend, here for my last year it’s been a blessing for sure and something I definitely don’t take for granted.”
The two have come a long way, from middle school when they just talked about their dreams of dominating the high school court and playing Division I basketball to actually making that happen. But before their college careers come to a close, the pair still has one big dream they hope to accomplish- playing in the NCAA basketball tournament.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that you could be looking up in March and all of a sudden you’re watching Illinois State play in the first round of the NCAA tournament,” Banks said. “[Playing in March Madness] has always been my goal in college and to do it with one of my best friends and everybody back home watching would be the ultimate dream come true.”
