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Posted: Friday October 25, 2002 3:58 PM Updated: Thursday October 31, 2002 4:11 PM Wisconsin Badgers
The following preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the most thorough preview available of the upcoming season, order the 2002-03 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518. Team Preview | Blue Ribbon Analysis
The Big Ten found out last year what small-college basketball fans throughout the state of Wisconsin have known for awhile now: Bo Ryan is a darn good coach. In only his third year as a Division I coach -- and first year in the Big Ten -- all Ryan did was take a team that had zero expectations and zero hopes and turn it into a Big Ten co-champion, the first Big Ten title in Madison since 1947. In the process, Ryan earned the Big Ten Coach of the Year Award. Not that anybody in the Dairy State was truly surprised. After all, Ryan compiled the best winning percentage in Division III history (.822) in his 15 seasons at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. In that 15-year span, his teams won eight conference titles and four D-III national championships, and he parlayed that success into a two-year stint at UW-Milwaukee, where he guided the Panthers to two plus-.500 seasons, the first time in school history that had happened. But as anybody who knows Bo Ryan would tell you, success has not changed him. If you're looking for a coach who'll break his arm patting himself on the back for winning Big Ten Coach of the Year, keep looking. "I know you've heard this a million times, but obviously I don't get the award if the players don't perform," the humble Ryan said. "Actually, I see it as a reflection on our whole staff. So, on behalf of Wisconsin as an institution and us as a staff, I was happy to accept the award."
His players didn't just perform -- they overachieved like no other team in the Big Ten. The team overcame adversity in the preseason -- losing sophomore guard Julian Swartz to a battle with obsessive-compulsive disorder, Latrell Fleming to a heart disorder, and freshman forward Andres Helmigk to a torn left ACL. Still, they overcame a 1-4 start that left some observers wondering if the new coach was ready for prime time. But senior leadership helped carry the Badgers through the rough spots, and the tide turned in late December when in-state rival and 14th-ranked Marquette came to Madison and limped home a 13-point loser. That was the first of five wins in seven games against ranked opponents, including a six-point victory over seventh-ranked Illinois in the Badgers' Big Ten home opener. "Those wins [over Marquette and Illinois] definitely helped us believe," Ryan said. "The coaches believed in the system all along, but players always need to have something to buy into and that did it." The Badgers rode that wave to a share of the Big Ten title, winning their last six conference games to get the hardware. But a first-round loss to Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament led to a No. 8 seeding in the NCAA tournament, and after defeating St. John's in a first-round match-up, the Badgers were face-to-face with a giant in its own backyard -- top-seeded Maryland, in Washington, D.C. "It was extremely tough to play them so close to the University of Maryland," Ryan said. "We hung and we hung and we hung, but that stretch right before halftime really got them going, and in the second half the crowd really helped them." Indeed, the Badgers did stay close early, but Maryland took the lead for good at 26-23 with 5:20 to play in the first half, expanded that lead to eight by the half, then used a 14-3 run at the start of the second half to cruise to an 87-57 win. Still, it was a successful season by any definition, and the Badgers lost only two key contributors from last year's team. However, they also have only five players returning from last year's squad, but that's all you need to form a starting lineup -- something Ryan proved last year when he went with the same starting five the entire season. Gone are point guard Travon Davis, who averaged 7.8 points and 4.3 boards per game, and forward Charlie Wills, who was the team's second-leading rebounder at 5.2 per game and third-leading scorer at 10.2 points per game. Wills is the Wisconsin career leader in games played with 129, and Davis's assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.1 to 1 was third best in the Big Ten. "Travon was a tough, hard-nosed defensive player who gave us competitiveness and toughness in addition to his point guard abilities," Ryan said. "Wills was not really quick but defensively he used his body and feet well, and his offensive skills in the post improved so much from November to February that he really became a force with his low-post moves." Ryan will counter those losses with a solid nucleus of three returning starters and two guys who saw significant minutes off the bench last year in the team's seven-man rotation. Guard Kirk Penney (15.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg) will once again provide his grit and deadly outside shooting as the Badgers' lone senior. Last year the 6-foot-5 Penney was a consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection, the first in Madison since Michael Finley in 1993. The New Zealand native represented his country in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, the 2001 Goodwill Games and the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis. Penney was the Big Ten Player of the Week three times last year, tying Indiana's Jared Jeffries for most in the conference. His trademark jump shot clicked for a career-high 33 points against Marquette, and for the season he shot 47.1 percent from the field, including .412 from 3-point land and .823 from the free-throw line. His biggest game might have been at Minnesota in late February, a game the Badgers had to win if they were to remain in the hunt for the Big Ten title. With is team down 13 points in the second half, Penney seemingly willed Wisconsin to victory by scoring 30 points, including 27 in the final 15:31, hitting 6-of-9 3-pointers along the way. This summer, Penney played for his home country, New Zealand, in basketball's World Championships in Indianapolis. "He's played everywhere," Ryan said, speaking geographically but also about Penny's do-it-all attitude on the court. "He's well-traveled and seasoned, and he's one of the few All-Big Ten first-teamers that Wisconsin's had. He'll be a real leader for us this year." Penney's backcourt running mate will be 6-3 sophomore Devin Harris (12.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg), who will move to the point this year after spending much of last season in the shooting guard role. Harris exploded onto the scene last year, starting all 32 games and leading the team in minutes at 34.2 per game. He was the first freshman to start an opener for the Badgers since Mike Kelly in 1997, and he made the most of it with a team-high 20 points in a loss at UNLV. Harris spelled Davis at point guard last year when the senior was in foul trouble or resting, but this year he should have the ball in his hands full-time running the offense. "He'll be just fine," Ryan said. "He'll do what he's done so far here, which is take care of the ball, get the offense going, direct traffic and make the calls in our offense. He'll be fine in that regard, because as a freshman last year he experienced so many things and he knows what you need to do to get it done at this level." Another guard whose role should continue to develop will be 6-2 junior Freddie Owens (8.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg). Coming off the bench as a sophomore, Owens was the team's fifth-leading scorer and hit double figures 14 times. He's known for his quickness and is a streaky scorer who can dominate a game at times, such as when he scored 16 straight points in a four-minute span of a victory over Northwestern. "He improved as the year went on in his decision-making and his defense," Ryan said. "He's a guy who can dog the other team's prolific scorers and shut them down -- he showed signs of that last year already." Sophomore forward Mike Wilkinson (9.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg) made a name for himself off the bench last year as the team's leading rebounder and is expected to make even more of an impact on the lineup this year. At 6-8 and 235 pounds, Wilkinson is a force in the low post but also has a soft touch from the outside. He shot 75.6 percent from the line, second best ever for a Badger freshman, and he was second on the team with 40 steals. "Definitely we need him to replace what Charlie Wills gave us defensively," Ryan said. "You're supposed to get better every year so we're looking for that from him this year. He'll probably be on the floor a little longer so we'll see if he's ready to take on more minutes. He's a student of the game and works hard at it." At center, the Badgers will lean on 6-11 junior Dave Mader (3.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg), who often yielded to Wilkinson last season. This year Mader's minutes should increase with another year of experience behind him and without a proven big man to spell him off the bench. He also gained experience on the Big Ten's All-Star tour of Europe this summer, where he averaged 3.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. "We're looking for him to improve in every area just a little bit," Ryan said. "Some coaches get caught up in asking for too much. With him, we're looking for maybe one more rebound per game, and improving the little things like being more active. We hope he'll use his experience to be a little better in the post, to develop his feel for the game, so he knows exactly where he needs to be on the floor and understands what we're trying to do." Five freshman join the program this fall, and Helmigk returns from his knee injury as a red-shirt freshman as well, but Ryan says he won't comment on them until he has a chance to see them on campus, practicing and performing in the Wisconsin system. The recruits are 6-10 forward/center Jason Chappell from New Berlin, Wis., by way of Worcester Academy in Massachusetts; 6-7 forward Ray Nixon from Whitefish Bay, Wis.; 6-5 guard/forward Alando Tucker of Lockport, Ill.; 6-3 guard Maurice Wade from Milwaukee's Vincent High School; and 6-1 guard Marcetteus McGee from Chicago's Farragut Academy. The Badgers came out of nowhere last year to win a share of the Big Ten title, so it would be foolish to look down on the program this year, especially after losing only two players off last year's team. With Penney, who's the lone returning first-team All-Big Ten member, they've got a legitimate go-to guy on offense, and guys like Owens and Wilkinson will put the wraps on opposing high scorers. The main question is going to be which freshmen emerge to provide depth and how quickly they come along. A trip back to the NCAAs seems likely, with perhaps even a seeding higher than last year's No. 8. Even another Big Ten title is not out of the question when Ryan works his magic in Madison this winter.
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