On Wisconsin

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Bo Ryan

When Bo Ryan took over the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team in 2001, he inherited a program that was just a year removed from their second Final Four appearance in school history. Ryan is no stranger to building a strong basketball program within the State of Wisconsin. From 1984-1999, Ryan led the Wisconsin-Platteville Pioneers to four Division III national titles including a pair of undefeated seasons. But when Ryan came to Madison in 2001, no one could have expected him to do what he has done which is to turn the Badgers into a national power in college basketball.

With a record of 22-2 this season, the Badgers are currently ranked fifth in the Associated Press Poll and they are well on their way to their fourth regular season Big Ten Conference Title under Ryan.

Under Ryan, Wisconsin has soared to new heights which has included their first No. 1 ranking in school history in the  AP Poll during the 2006-2007 college basketball season while they also enjoyed a run for the ages last spring in the NCAA Tournament.

After reaching the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals last March, the Badgers entered the NCAA Tournament through the West Region as the second seed there. After three impressive victories over the American University Eagles, Oregon Ducks, and Baylor Bears respectively, the Badgers found themselves with a date with the Arizona Wildcats in the West Regional Final and on that night in Anaheim, California a star was born.

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Frank Kaminsky

Wisconsin junior forward Frank Kaminsky was a matchup nightmare that evening as he went for 28 points and 11 rebounds including going 3-of-5 from three-point land. Wisconsin would edge Arizona in overtime 64-63 for their third Final Four appearance in school history. And for his performance Kaminsky would be named the Most Outstanding Player of the West Regional. Earlier that season Kaminsky set a Wisconsin single-game school record with 43 points in a victory over North Dakota.

After coming within an eyelash of their first trip to the National Championship Game last season for the first time since 1941, the Badgers came into this season with high expectations that they are living up to.

Wisconsin began this season ranked third in the AP Poll while also being favored to win the Big Ten. Now as a senior, Kaminsky began this season as a third-team, All-American as well as the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year and he and his teammates are living up to everything that has been expected of them.

Wisconsin has been without the services of senior guard Traevon Jackson who suffered a broken foot on January 11 in their loss to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Badgers are hopeful to have him back at some point this season. But led by Kaminsky and junior forward Sam Dekker, Wisconsin has picked up the slack. Defense has always been the name of the game for Ryan at Wisconsin and this season only three Badger opponents have scored more than 70 points against them.

Aside from a home loss to the Duke Blue Devils in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge this past December and a shocking road loss to a Big Ten newcomer in Rutgers, Wisconsin has taken care of their business as they have beaten every team that they stepped on the court against them including a season sweep of the Iowa Hawkeyes. But heading into next month’s Big Ten Tournament in Chicago, the level of competition is going to pick up for Wisconsin.

Next Tuesday, Wisconsin has a road tilt against the 19th ranked Maryland Terrapins before senior day on March 1 against the always tough Michigan State Spartans in which it will be the last time that the fans in Madison will get to cheer on Kaminsky at the Kohl Center. The Badgers will then finish up the regular season on the road in a difficult environment as they take on the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Badgers have made the NCAA Tournament in every season under Ryan and they know that a strong finish down the stretch here will guarantee them their first top seed in a region of the NCAA Tournament in school history which is a credit to the program that Ryan has built there.

Ryan doesn’t get the McDonald’s All-American type recruits to come to Madison like other marquee basketball coaches have in their program, but he does recruit young men that buy into his team first basketball philosophy. There are no names on the back of the jerseys at Wisconsin and their red and white uniforms are as basic as it get when it comes to fashion and there isn’t a backdrop in Madison of a major media market either. This is a team that simply packs a lunch every time that they step onto the court and if their opponent doesn’t do the same then they are in for a long 40 minutes. Ryan is a throwback coach to another era when collegiate athletics were not defined by money and it was more about building men. Ryan has won more games than any other head basketball coach at Wisconsin and he has written his own legacy there. And if Ryan is able to lead the Badgers to their first national championship since the days when Franklin Roosevelt was in the White House, then we might see the Madison campus renamed after him.

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By | 2015-02-16T11:14:18+00:00 February 16th, 2015|Categories: College Basketball|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

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