The lowdown
2000-01 record: 18-11; 9-7 in Big Ten (5th)
Final Ranking: No 25 AP
Postseason: Lost to Georgia State 50-49 in first round of NCAA Tournament.
Three Questions for 2001-02
1. How will the Badgers react to the switch from a more staid approach by Dick Bennett and Brad Soderberg to the up-tempo style of new head coach Bo Ryan? How will Ryan adapt to the Badgers' personnel?
2. Who will replace Mike Kelley's defense and his overall leadership? Can Travon Davis be the answer at the point -- both offensively and defensively? Will Kirk Penney handle the expectations defensively?
3. The Badgers were a physical lot, but losing Mark Vershaw and Andy Kowske hurts. Can Charlie Wills be the answer in the middle? Will the Badgers get anything out of Julien Swarz inside or out? What about Dave Mader?
Three Key Facts
1. Bo Ryan's UW-Milwaukee club finished .500 in MCC, averaging nearly 70 points a game last season. Wisconsin was 9-7 a year ago in the Big Ten while averaging just under 60 points a game.
2. Charlie Wills, a senior forward, is one of 12 players who'll participate in the 2001 Big Ten Foreign Tour -- a six-game tour of England and Ireland from Aug. 8-19.
3. The five seniors who graduated also took with them over 60 percent of the Badgers' offense of a season ago.
Andy Katz's Scenarios
Best case: The Badgers hover around the middle of the Big Ten, get on the NCAA bubble and end up in the NIT.
Worst case: The Badgers fall hard, down to 9th or 10th and miss the postseason.
|
Key Players Returning
|
|
Player
|
Yr.
|
Pos.
|
Ht./Wt.
|
Comment
|
|
Kirk Penney
|
Jr.
|
G
|
6-5/205
|
PTS: 11.2 | REB: 3.0 | AST: 1.1
|
|
Key Losses
|
|
Player
|
Pos.
|
Ht./Wt.
|
Comment
|
|
Roy Boone
|
G
|
6-3/195
|
PTS: 12.8 | REB: 4.1 | AST: 2.0
|
|
Mark Vershaw
|
F
|
6-9/235
|
PTS: 8.6 | REB: 4.1 | AST: 2.9
|
|
Andy Kowske
|
F
|
6-8/230
|
PTS: 7.0 | REB: 5.4 | AST: 0.4
|
|
Maurice Linton
|
F
|
6-8/210
|
PTS: 5.6 | REB: 3.4 | AST: 1.0
|
|
Mike Kelley
|
G
|
6-3/190
|
PTS: 5.3 | REB: 2.2 | AST: 1.3
|
|
Wisconsin Signings
|
|
Player
|
Pos.
|
Ht.
|
High School/College
|
|
Devin Harris
|
G
|
6-3
|
Milwaukee, Wis./Wauwatosa East H.S.
|
|
Latrell Fleming
|
G
|
6-3
|
Milwaukee, Wis./Marshall H.S.
|
|
Andreas Helmigk
|
F
|
6-9
|
Klagenfurt, Austria
|
|
Neil Plank
|
G/F
|
6-5
|
Mt. Zion, Ill./Mt. Zion
|
|
|
|
