Platteville Middle School celebrated Merrill Brunson Day Thursday. Brunson was the 1999 National Association of Basketball Coaches Division III Player of the Year in the last year UW–Platteville won a men’s basketball national championship. Brunson is a native of Richland Center, whose mayor named April 26 Merrill Brunson Day in 2012. Students at Platteville Middle School, where Brunson teaches, pinned photos of Brunson to their shirts, and, thanks to teachers Denise Huser and Sarah Droessler, teachers and staff — except for Brunson (in dark shirt) — wore Merrill Brunson Day T-shirts.