It is Senior Day in Madison today as five seniors will be honored before and after the game. All have taken different paths to the University of Wisconsin, but today, they all will be celebrated today after four or five years with the program. I will share my favorite moment or moments involving each one of the seniors, and hoping the Badgers can pull the game out today against Purdue at the Kohl Center. Anyway, here it is:
J.D. Wise, guard
To be honest, I did not know a whole lot about Wise as he came into the program. But knowing how hard walk-ons have to work day in and day out with very little reward in terms of playing time is something to admire. Wise is one of the people who helped get guys like Jordan Taylor ready for the game with his work on the scout team. A lot of that goes unnoticed. Not by his teammates, though, so when Wise or Dan Fahey, who I will talk about next, get in the game, the regulars want so bad for them to do well. Wise scored a career-high five points last year in a 77-57 win against Northwestern, including going 2-for-2 from the field and making his only 3-point attempt. The senior from Milwaukee has only played 26 career minutes, but has made the most of them. He has shot 4-of-6 from the field and 2-for-2 from 3-point land. His second career 3-pointer came last game against Nebraska and seeing the bench get so excited when he and Fahey do well is something special.
Dan Fahey, guard
Like Wise, I did not know a whole lot about this walk-on either. Fahey has made the most of his opportunities and he is ending his career on a high note. He has scored in each of Wisconsin's past three games and has looked good doing it. He has scored six points in five minutes and has grabbed two rebounds and ending the game against Nebraska with a block. It was the first block of his career. That rejection would probably be my favorite Fahey moment. He could have easily just let Nebraska score there as the Badgers won handily, but Fahey was making the most of every single second he was given. With being on this little streak he is on, scoring in three consecutive games, even football players are impressed. Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland tweeted "Jordan's fade away, AI's crossover, Fahey's up and under" after Fahey's bucket last game. It also is a tough job to be the "hold back guy," a player who holds back the bench after big plays. He is also a co-president (along with Wise) of the "Bench Mob" for Wisconsin, When he leaves, he will be missed. I mean, who will be able to fill the role of "hold back guy?" Those will be tough shoes to fill.
Mike Bruesewitz, forward
When Bruesewitz came to Wisconsin, people were thinking he would be the next Joe Krabbenhoft for the Badgers. Bruesewitz could do it all. He could shoot, rebound, defend and would do all the little plays to help the team win. He is one of those players you want on your team. First off, how could we not talk about him without mentioning his wonderful hair. From his his short hair days as a junior to his floppy curly hair as a sophomore and part of his senior year to his Cosmo Kramer look he currently has, Bruesewitz has had it all. Before the 2011-12 season started, I was at College Gameday when it came to Madison when the Badgers played Nebraska. I was backstage and then two basketball players came near us. One was All-American Jordan Taylor, but I did not remember who it was. I was thinking it was too short to be Jared Berggren, so I had to think of who it was. I had only remembered Bruesewitz from his sophomore year's hairstyle. I then remembered he had it cut for charity. It took me a few minutes, but then I remembered the player with Taylor was Bruesewitz. In speaking of those two players, no players had a bigger footprint on the 2011 Ohio State game more than those two. Bruesewitz has had a knack for hitting big shots throughout his career and this was no different. With Wisconsin down three, Taylor was trapped underneath the basket, but threw it to Bruesewitz in the corner for the game-tying 3-pointer. Then, with less than a minute remaining and the shot clock running down and Wisconsin ahead by two, Taylor found an open Bruesewitz in at the top of the key for the 3-pointer. He made it with with a half a minute to go, delivering the dagger through the heart of the No. 1 team in the land. Another big shot he made was in the NCAA Tournament that same year against the Kansas State Wildcats. With the game tied at 61 with less than two minutes to play, Taylor and Bruesewitz once again connected for a big play. Taylor came up with a steal and pushed the ball and found Bruesewitz wide open on the left wing for the 3-pointer. Bruesewitz came up big again, drilling the long range shot, putting Wisconsin ahead for good. And finally, who could ever forget his dunk at Ohio State that same year? He drove it and threw it down over a Buckeye defender, drawing the foul in the process. That is one way to remember Bruesewitz. He was fearless.
Ryan Evans, forward
This scholarship came out of left field. No one really knew anything about him, except for the fact he was very raw. He was one of those few who have had significant minutes as a freshman, though inconsistent. Some games he got three minutes, while he had between 10-15 in others. In his minutes as a freshman, you could see he had potential. In the game against Cornell, he had 27 minutes and scored 11 points and added six rebounds and three assists. That was a sign of things to come. In the 73-69 upset of Duke as a freshman, Duke's Kyle Singler was destroying Wisconsin throughout much of the game, but Evans did a nice job on him defensively, limiting him to one basket the last 12 minutes of the game, In crunch time, Wisconsin held a slim 67-65 lead and Duke had the ball. The Blue Devils called Singler's number, but was shut down by Evans, forcing Singler to take a difficult shot, which hit the side of the backboard. Evans rebounded it and the Badgers held on for the win. As a sophomore, Evans played a huge role in a victory against No.10 Purdue at the Kohl Center. Down one 51 seconds left, Evans drove and buried a free throw line jumper to give the Badgers the lead. He then followed that up with a tie up as Purdue's E'Twaun Moore drove to the basket and when going up, Evans made a play on the ball and forced the jump ball, which gave the ball back to Wisconsin and the Badgers won 66-59. He also was arguably the most athletic player on the team and had some memorable dunks. The most memorable came just a few weeks ago when Sam Dekker missed a 3-pointer, but Evans came in and reached back and slammed it in with his right hand. He also had a few in the Big Ten Tournament last year. With Wisconsin ahead 69-64, he drove to the lane on Indiana's defense and threw a one-handed dunk in, helping the Badgers to a 79-71 win. The very next day, he did the very same thing. This one, he drove the baseline, but the result was the same. He has had some very memorable moments as a Badger and will be missed when he leaves after this year. He has a great attitude and while he may not be a great scorer, he is the best rebounder on the team and plays solid defense. It was a pleasure to watch him grow as a player over his five years here. As a freshman, he really struggled shooting, but over the course of his career, has turned the mid-range jump shot into a weapon.
Jared Berggren, center
There are so many memories that flow to my head when I think of Berggren. From the dunks to big shots, he was just so fun to watch over the past few years improve and turn into the best shot blocker this university has ever had. The first year, he redshirted and the next two he had to back up two solid bigs in Keaton Nankivil and Jon Leuer, who currently plays for the Memphis Grizzlies. Like basically every other Badger, he has improved greatly since stepping foot on campus. Before I talk about the dunking display he has put on this year, one of his bigger plays as a Badger was a 3-pointer he hit his junior season in Columbus. In a matchup between Berggren and future NBA first round pick Jared Sullinger, the Badger big one the battle. Sullinger was held to eight points, while Berggren scored 18, including the eventual game-winning 3-pointer. With the clock winding down and the Badgers down one, Taylor found Berggren open for 3. Even after going 2-for-6 from deep leading up to that point, the Badger big man was not shy about shooting it. It's a good thing, too, as he drained it, giving the Badgers a two-point lead, a lead it would never relinquish in a crucial 63-60 win in Columbus. Later that season, Wisconsin played Vanderbilt in the round of 32. With Wisconsin holding on to a 60-57 lead in the closing seconds, Vanderbilt had one more chance to try to send it into overtime. Vanderbilt had to go the length of the court, but Berggren deflected the inbounds pass and the Badgers advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season. Now, this season has been a dunk fest, many of which happened at crucial times and/or in crucial games. Three come to mind right away. First, Wisconsin was struggling with Penn State. Wisconsin was only ahead 54-51 against a below average Penn State squad, but Berggren slammed the door shut with a ferocious one-handed jam. Berggren got a pass from Ben Brust, made a spin move and slammed it down with one hand while being fouled by Penn State's Sasa Borovnjak. The next dunk came a few games later in a battle for first place in the conference on the road against No. 2 Indiana. Early in the game, the Badgers showed they would not back down from the No. 2 team in the land as Berggren drove the lane and threw a one-handed dunk over NCAA Player of the Year candidate Victor Oladipo (or as my dad calls him "Home Depot"). That dunk got the Badgers off to a nice start and they would hold on to upset Indiana 64-59 in Bloomington. And finally, the Michigan game was remembered for Ben Brust, but it would not have happened without a patented Berggren one-handed hammer. Wisconsin trailed by three and Berggren realized the shot clock was winding down. So, he drove the lane and threw it down over another NCAA Player of the Year candidate, Trey Burke. Again, he was fouled while he dunked and made the free throw, and the rest is history. Berggren was such a huge player the past two years, I don't know where the Badgers would be without him. It will be tough to replace him and Badger fans can only hope Frank Kaminsky can be as close to as productive as Berggren.
I enjoyed taking you down memory lane. If you have any more memories you would like to share about Berggren, feel free to post in the comments. This was a wonderful senior class and hopefully we'll see them again, either as a professional player or the coaching ranks like St. Louis assistant coach Tanner Bronson. No matter what they do, it was fun watching them grow as players the past four or five years. On Wisconsin!
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