Last year, the Wisconsin Badgers were able to wrap up a great season: they not only made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, they were also runner-ups for the BIG 10 Championship Tournament. I can’t wait to see what this young Badger team has in store this season. We don’t have the best record possible yet, but every player has been showing potential and promise on the court.
As you may all know, we lost four great players to graduation last year: Nigel Hayes, Bronson Koenig, Zak Showalter and Vitto Brown. As they moved on to their future lives and careers (including Vitto Brown at Wisconsin’s own G league team in Oshkosh, the Herd), they will always be remembered as great players for Wisconsin.
Despite the fact that we lost four starting seniors, we have some great returners and a talented freshmen class. Starter Ethan Happ had a great season last year with many honors. He was last season’s Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and made it to both the First-Team All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Tournament Team. The redshirt junior is now the anchor of the UW-Madison Basketball team, after a breakout freshman campaign that continued into his sophomore season. I have a feeling that Happ will surprise us even more this year. Another returner to watch out for is point guard D’Mitrik Trice, who had a great impact on the team last year as a freshman. We can’t forget about junior Khalil Iverson, who made the list of “15 Badgers Who Deserve People’s ‘The Sexiest Man Alive’ Title Over Blake Shelton.” He has been making a steady impact on the team ever since his freshman year.
The freshmen group, too, are starting to make a mark on the team — truly showing they’re a force to reckon with. During the Milwaukee game, freshman guard Brad Davison contributed 19 points, which helped Wisconsin win over the in-state rival Milwaukee. He was also named Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week.
You can follow up on the action of the UW-Madison Basketball Team during the rest of their season on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
If you ever want to watch these men play, there are plenty of home games at the Kohl Center. Check out their schedule if you’re interested. On, Wisconsin!