On the Stove Top: 3/26

Six members of the Wisconsin men's basketball team were named Academic All-Big Ten this week: Joe Krabbenhoft, Jon Leuer, Tim Jarmusz, Kevin Gullikson, Morris Cain and Brett Valentyn. That's four rotation players and three non-walkons. Nice job.

Only days earlier, the wide range of graduation rates among this year's NCAA tournament participants was also released. Connecticut came in at a sterling 33 percent. Ouch. On average, though, the Academic Progress Rates are up across the board, which are the statistics that dictate the loss of scholarships for programs who are not graduating players.

: : :

After only two seasons, Iowa's rebuilding project under coach Todd Lickliter is collapsing from within. As many as four players may transfer in the offseason, in addition to 2010 recruit Chanse Creekmur decommitting. The fans who still care are calling for Lickliter's head.

Losing Jake Kelly would be a huge blow. Kelly nearly single-handedly kept the Hawkeyes competitive when he switched over to point guard. He was one of the Big Ten's rising stars and if/when he winds up at Indiana State, the conference as a whole suffers. The possible defection of two more guards and a fourth big body makes Iowa the new conference doormat for the foreseeable future. Good for opponents' records? Yes. Good for league quality? No.

I would argue that Creekmur changing his mind ranks as the second biggest loss. Iowa needs to bring in a higher level of talent to be more competitive and this is a huge red flag to all potential recruits.

: : :

With Iowa City devolving into a madhouse, Indiana moves up half a notch by default. Since coach Tom Crean had already signed more new players (6) for next season than he had room for, apparently it was time to convince one of his existing players to transfer. Again.

The winner was Malik Story, a freshman guard who played in all 31 games this year, averaging 6 pts & 2 rebs in 18 min/g. Story shot a horrible percentage and was the fifth guard in a rotation that will be adding two or three more Top 100 prospects to the backcourt.

Just in case Story did not accept his new mission, two possible backup plans may have been for Georgetown transfer Jeremiah Rivers to pay his own way or to strip big man project Tijan Jobe of his free ride after one year. See, that's why taking away J.P. Gavinski's scholarship would be a bad idea, image-wise. Bo Ryan would be copying Crean.

Thad Matta always has the opposite problem at Ohio State. Now that frosh B.J. Mullens has officially thrown his hat into the NBA Draft ring, Matta will need to scramble to find a big body to comprise his previously empty 2009 recruiting class. Until now, the Buckeyes had no available scholarships. Although Matta has the ability to pull it off, the pickins' are slim these days. So Ohio State may bank it for 2010 and continue to load up one of the greatest recruiting classes in history: a Buckeye six-pack?

Though Ohio State will lack depth in the frontcourt, their powerful perimeter game should keep them in the upper half of the Big Ten next season. Evan Turner, William Buford, Jon Diebler all have one more season under their belts and David Lighty will return from injury.

: : :

Wisconsin recruit Mike Bruesewitz saw his prep career come to an unexpected end on Wednesday as Bloomington Jefferson upset Henry Sibley in the Class 4A quarterfinals, 60-56. Though Bruiser had another nice game (21 pts, 16 rebs), he was tied up by a defender with a chance to tie the game in the final minute and deferred to his cold-shooting guards on the final meaningful possession.

The Warrior's only outside threat, Maurice Hernandez, played on a badly injured ankle and shot only 1-of-11 behind the arc, making the shocking loss a bit more understandable. Even Bruesewitz was not quite 100% physically, according to his father. It seemed like a foregone conclusion to everyone that Sibley would earn that anticipated rematch with Hopkins. Welcome to the real world kids ... I feel for ya.

Though Bruesewitz will not take any consolation in his individual accolades, he was named the Star Tribune's Metro Player of the Year and also succeeded Jordan Taylor as Minnesota's Gatorade Player of the Year. Germantown's Ben Averkamp won the Gatorade award for Wisconsin.

Vander Blue's Coming Out Party

The energy surrounding Wisconsin's short run in the NCAA tournament was nearly matched by the buzz surrounding Vander Blue's dominance in the WIAA state tournament this weekend.

The Madison Memorial junior guard who has already verballed to play for Wisconsin averaged 22.6 pts, 6 rebs, 1.3 blks & 2.6 stls per game in three wins en route to the Division 1 state title. Blue exploded right away for 35 points (24 in the second half) in a semifinal win over Germantown. He continued to erase memories of his subpar championship game last season as Memorial rolled over Racine Horlick on Saturday night for its second gold ball.

In addition to being a unanimous all-tournament team selection, Blue was named to the Division 1 All-State team by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. Teammate and soon-to-be Marquette freshman Jeronne Maymon was named Mr. Basketball and was a unanimous selection to join Blue on the All-State team.

Badger fans have already gone through one round of rumors regarding the stability of Blue's verbal commitment. It appears those rumors are only going to resurface and intensify. After a similar tourney run last season, Maymon saw his recruiting stock explode, which he then validated with a solid AAU session. I expect the same to happen with Blue.

I suspect Wisconsin's staff knows this and believe they will remain vigilant in keeping close ties with the 6'4" prospect. The recruiting scene is ruthless, so no one can rest on their laurels. Personally, I subscribe to the "where there's smoke, there's fire" mantra, but there still has not been any substance to the whispers yet. About the only thing you can know for sure with all the rumors going around is that Blue says he is very close to Maymon:

"That’s my boy. I love him to death. Blood could make us no closer.”

Beyond that, it is not worth worrying about unless an official announcement is made.

Another unanimous WBCA all-state selection was Horlick's Oregon-bound senior Jamil Wilson, who struggled in the championship game. Wilson was bottled up by Memorial freshman Junior Lomomba in the early going and then got into terrible foul trouble, picking up number four in the second quarter. It will be fun to see Lomomba develop over the next few years, provided he stays enrolled at Memorial rather than going the prep school route. I am sure the Badgers will be knocking on his door if he keeps his academics in order.

As for Wilson, he still looks like an extremely talented wing player who I've mentioned could develop into a Scottie Pippen-type player. He had strong performances before running into Memorial, showing off nice range on his pull-up jumper and a special knack for blocking shots. Though any athletic leaper in high school with a wingspan approaching seven feet should be pretty decent in that department.

Links:
- I missed this before, but the Wisconsin State Journal's George Hesselberg did a humorous video breakdown on how to pick a team to root for in the state tournament if you lack any ingrained allegiances. A classic in my book.
- Mike Bruesewitz and Henry Sibley play Wednesday in the Minnesota Class 4A quarterfinals. The Warriors are fighting to earn a rematch with No. 1 Hopkins. The Twin Cities Hoops Czar thinks he might have a plan of attack.

Wisconsin Gets X'd Out

The Xavier Musketeers gave the Badgers a harsh reminder about what elite defense looks like when they put the clamps on Trevon Hughes and company in the second half of Sunday's battle, thus denying Wisconsin a return trip to the Sweet 16.

Wisconsin's apex in the game was the 16-6 run by Hughes and Marcus Landry over a six-minute stretch that spanned the halftime break. However, the 33-26 lead disappeared slowly over the subsequent seven-minute scoring drought.

Even though Wisconsin already finished behind three of the other top defensive teams in the nation during the Big Ten season (with a combined 1-4 record), it had the distinct displeasure of running into two more of the season's best in back-to-back tournament games. Contrast that to last season's run as a higher seed where UW (the second-best defensive team according to Pomeroy rankings) got to play against three teams more known for their offense.

The Badgercentric blog sums up a few other thoughts on Wisconsin's demise. The Badgers missed far too many makeable shots, despite Landry's best efforts. Wisconsin shot 28.6% on the day and only 3-of-20 from long distance. Xavier was suffocating, especially to Jason Bohannon.

I give Xavier a lot of credit, but I still think Hughes and Keaton Nankivil need to finish better near the rim that they did against the X-men for this team to advance any further next season. I absolutely loved Pop's aggressiveness going to the hole and would love to see "NCAA Hughes" show up for the entirety of his senior season. Hughes finished 11-of-13 from the line for a total of 17 points, despite missing all seven 3-point attempts and hitting only 3-of-16 from the field (some of those were garbage shots in the final minute).

To keep the theme going, the X-factor in the game might have been Xavier's freshman center Kenny Frease. The seven-footer scored Xavier's first three points after four minutes of spinning its wheels. Then down the second half stretch, Frease twice drew "and-ones" at crucial moments to reverse any semblance of Badger momentum.

Frease is still pretty raw, but it was a blatant tragedy that the 6'6" Landry had to guard that giant. Not too many teams have the personnel to match those 265 pounds in the post. The shame is that Wisconsin is one of those teams. But both of the aircraft carriers on UW's bench lack either skill or experience ... or more frightening, both.

Landry held his own otherwise, as predicted. He completed his excellent Badger career quite respectably with 18 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and one block. [box score] The Goggled One finishes fifth in career blocked shots with 99 and tied for eighth with 181 offensive rebounds.

Things probably could not have gone worse on the court for Joe Krabbenhoft. Krabby fouled out with zero points and was pretty invisible. Despite a forgettable final game, I look foward to seeing Joe on the sidelines someday for a college team that visits the Kohl Center, or even better, on the UW staff. Krabbenhoft was a great leader and one of the winningest Badgers of all time.

In the end, Xavier out-Badgered the Badgers. The Musketeers were deeper and more skilled and it will be easy to cheer for those guys to win out.

From Now On, Everything Is Icing

More than 24 hours have passed since Wisconsin's most gratifying win of the season. Beating 5-seed Florida State was not an improbable victory, but at halftime it sure seemed like it. And considering the team's hot and cold resolve in late-game situations, I don't think anyone really expected a repeat of the Virginia Tech finish.

But that's what Trevon Hughes gave us. He is an ACC killer. Pop showed the ultimate level of toughness by hanging in over the course of 45 minutes in a game where he made decisions (4 TOs, two critical missed FTs) even he termed "bonehead plays."

"He was really strong with the ball on that particular play," said Marcus Landry. I agree.



In the locker room after the game, footage shows a mix of youthful excitement and flat out relief from some of the players.

For me, Wisconsin missing the tournament would have been confirmation of a disappointing season. By winning one in Boise already, the season is officially a success in my eyes. A fine line isn't it? Not only did the team give Bo Ryan his first coaching victory over a better seed, but the Badgers may have gotten a bit of their end of the game mojo back.

Toney Douglas is a heck of a player. Wow. But Florida State turned out to be just a two-trick pony.

After leading the team with an impassioned halftime talk, Joe Krabbenhoft got a steal and a big 3-pointer to start an incredible 13-0 run. Following Krabby's lead, Wisconsin came out to start the second half as a team. Keaton Nankivil rose from anonymity again. His eight straight points capped the run to give the Badgers a 32-31 lead with 14:40 remaining. At that point, it was a brand new ballgame and a breath of fresh air. [box score]

Nankivil finished with 14 points off the bench and thankfully Bo stuck with him despite some foul trouble. Besides the ankle injury, defensive consistency and overall intensity is what has kept the sophomore off the floor even as fans have been clamoring for him to get more playing time.

"He was tough. Knocked down some shots. Got some confidence going," Ryan said of Nankivil after the game. "I think he was even talking to himself when he went down the court a couple times. Did you see the lips moving? He wasn't trash talking, that's Keaton getting himself going. We knew we had him ready then."

Even so, Wisconsin needed clutch outside shooting from Jason Bohannon to make up the seven-point deficit it faced with five minutes to play in regulation. Again, an impressive display of mental toughness and persistence by the team. Then, when J-Bo hit the first shot of overtime form behind the arc, we started to believe.

Thanks to UW and Michigan, the Big Ten more than held it's own in round one despite Illinois and Ohio State losing. The conference posted a 4-3 record despite having four teams seeded 8th, 10th, 10th and 12th. Since then, Purdue won a second-round game as the Big Ten creeps closer to topping postseason expectations. A sweep by Michigan State and Wisconsin today would guarantee it.

As I expressed earlier, any more wins at this point are gravy. Xavier is a tough, well-coached major conference program stuck in the "mid-major" Atlantic 10 conference. The Musketeers will not be as long along the frontline as the Seminoles were however, which is why I have a feeling Old Man Landry will be a key factor in any success the Badgers have. He needs to rediscover that baseline spin move that served him well through his first three seasons at Wisconsin.

Speaking of Landry's senior season, he needs four more blocked shots to tie Kurt Portmann for fourth place all-time in Badger history. He needs three more offensive rebounds to pass Patrick Tompkins on the career offensive rebounding list.

As we update the seniors' progress on Record Watch, congratulations are in order for Hughes also, who sneaked onto Wisconsin's top ten in career steals in the past few games, passing Wes Matthews. Pop should be able to climb several more places next season.

Player - Career Rebounds (Season Total)
5. Kim Hughes - 806
6. Alando Tucker - 769
7. Joe Krabbenhoft - 753 (217)

Player - Career Off Rebs (Season Total)
2. Mike Wilkinson - 311
3. Andy Kowske - 240
4. Joe Krabbenhoft - 231 (60)
5. Sean Daugherty - 227
6. Brian Butch - 222
7. Michael Finley: 205
8. Patrick Tompkins: 181
9. Marcus Landry: 179 (51)

Player - Career Blocks (Season Total)
3. Mike Wilkinson - 117
4. Kurt Portmann - 102
5. Marcus Landry - 98 (34)

Links:
- Madison Memorial makes good on Jeronne Maymon's vow to win a state title.
- Talk about bad timing. Officials wait until the state tournament to let a Chicago high school powerhouse know about their "illegal" uniforms, which may have cost them a championship.

Where Are They Now Revisited: 2008-09

As the season has wrapped up for multitudes of teams across the country, it is an ideal time to see how the recent high school standouts from Wisconsin that have gone outside the state for college basketball have been doing.

When the WIAA boys basketball tournament comes to Madison this week, we will be reminded again that the state is churning out more good players each year. Some are excelling beyond the prep scene, while others still are finding their niche. You will find a wide range in the level of competition these guys face but all of the following players snared Division I scholarships, which is an accomplishment in and of itself.

: : : Seniors
This year's seniors include a couple of fifth-year players originally from the high school class of 2004. As you will see, I grouped the players into four categories of success based solely on the average amount of minutes they logged.

30+ min/g:
Mike Nelson, G, North Dakota St. (Summit) [stats]
Though Nelson's numbers have plateaued or dipped slightly since his breakout sophomore campaign, his team's star has continued to rise. North Dakota State (26-6, 16-2) clinched an NCAA tournament bid in it's first year of Division I eligibility by winning the Summit League championship game. Along with three other redshirt seniors, Nelson led the Bison to the outright regular season league title as well. Nelson posted averages of 12 ppg, 4 rpg and 2.5 apg this season, good for second or third on the team in each category.

David DuBois, G, Western Illinois (Summit) [stats]
The Madison LaFollette grad found a home in his third and final collegiate stop, winding up opposite Nelson in the Summit League. He has transformed himself into a quality guard and the unquestioned leader for the Leathernecks. Despite enduring a tough season with Western Illinois (9-20, 6-12), Dubois averaged just about 18 ppg and 6 rpg as a senior to earn a second-team all-conference nod.

J.R. Blount, G, Loyola (Horizon) [stats]
Blount left Whitefish Bay Dominican a champion and will leave Loyola four years later as the ninth-leading scorer in Ramblers history, just two points shy of #8. He led Loyola (14-18, 6-12) in scoring and assists yet again as a senior. Blount's 42 points against Rockhurst (who?!) set a Loyola record for season openers ... but his team still lost!

20+ min/g:
Jermyl Jackson-Wilson, F, Colorado (Big XII) [stats]
Jackson-Wilson rebounded from a sub par junior year to finish with improved shooting percentages from the field and free throw line in his final season. The same 6'6" player who was a force inside for Milwaukee King some six years ago was a bit small to thrive as a mere shot blocker in a BCS conference. Jackson-Wilson just missed cracking the top 15 for career blocked shots at Colorado (9-22, 1-15) even though he began his career at Ohio State.

John Rybak, F, Texas State (Southland) [stats]
After sitting out the 2007-08 season due to transfer rules, the 6'5" Rybak has made an instant impact from the wing for the Bobcats. The sharpshooter hit threes at a 39.5% clip and scored 10 ppg for Texas State (7-9, 14-16) this season.

10+ min/g:
Jacob Baryenbruch, G, Drake (Missouri Valley) [stats]
A Spring Green native, Baryenbruch suffered through a pretty dreadful shooting year for the Bulldogs (17-15, 7-11) with numbers pretty similar to his junior season across the board.

: : : Juniors
The best players to escape the state might be from the Class of 2006, where three guys in particular are playing either at a very high level, in a very tough conference, or both.

20+ min/g:
Jerry Smith, G, Louisville (Big East) [stats]
This Wauwautosa East product has regressed statistically in his third year, but is still deadly from deep (39.6%) and boasts an impressive effective field goal percentage overall (59.5). Let's keep in mind that Louisville (28-5, 16-2) is the top overall seed in this year's NCAA Tournament, so a drop in production is not a big surprise.

Adam Koch, F, Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley) [stats]
Koch's impressive season continues after holding off Illinois State in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament's classic overtime final. Koch leads a balanced scoring attack at just over 12 ppg while chipping in 5 rpg. Thanks to Koch's improvement, Northern Iowa (23-10, 14-4) shared the regular season conference title with perennial MVC powerhouse Creighton also. Koch was selected First-Team All-Conference in addition to being named to the 2009 all-tournament team.

Andy Polka, F, Loyola (Horizon) [stats]
The former Oshkosh West standout had been a rebounding force in the Horizon League throughout his first two seasons, but suffered a severely sprained ankle on December 13 which basically wiped out his junior campaign. Polka tried to return eight games later, but only manages to play four minutes before the dreaded "out indefinitely" tag. It's a shame he played in enough games that a redshirt season is not a possibility. Even so, Polka currently sits two rebounds shy of 500 for his career.

10+ min/g:
Devron Bostick, G, Minnesota (Big 10) [stats]
After playing a couple of great years of junior college ball, Bostick is back on the radar with Tubby Smith's Gophers. Bostick, a product of the Racine St. Catherine's machine, has battled inconsistency in his first season of power conference hoops with Minnesota (22-10, 9-9), but did explode for a season-high 19 points in 16 minutes against Penn State in January.

Under 10 min/g:
Mitchell Carter, C, South Carolina (SEC) [stats]
Though he is playing for a pretty good South Carolina team (21-8, 10-6), Mitchell still does not get his huge frame off the pine much. Mitchell has played in more games (19) than before, but clearly the highlight for him will be the NCAA tournament experience if the Gamecocks squeeze into the field of 64.

Steve Gruber, G, Brown (Ivy) [stats]
The junior from Whitefish Bay is sticking with it at Brown (9-19, 3-11) and playing some ball, though he appears to reside in Scrub City.

: : : Sophomores
It is interesting to see where some people who dropped off the radar actually wind up and this current group of sophomores is a great example of that.

30+ min/g:
Diante Garrett, G, Iowa St. (Big XII) [stats]
Garrett earned a dramatic increase in playing time at Iowa State as a full-time starter. Accordingly, the skinny soph also improved on his assist-to-turnover ratio (1.71) and his rebounding, much to the team's delight. Garrett averaged almost 10 ppg, 5 apg, over 3 rpg and 1 spg in over 1,000 minutes for the young Cyclones (15-16, 4-12); he still prefers to drive and dish than pop 3-pointers.

20+ min/g:
Will Hudson, F, Oakland (Summit) [stats]
The Golden Grizzlies fell to Nelson's North Dakota State Bison in a nail biter and but still will be dancing in the new CIT postseason tournament. Hudson has progressed nicely and starts for Oakland (22-12, 13-5) while posting just over 21 min/g. The Middleton grad is still 6'9" and a bit more chiseled at 225 lbs. He made 100-of-147 shot attempts this season, good for over 68%. Hudson appears to be headed toward a fine career.

10+ min/g:
James Haarsma, F, Evansville (Missouri Valley) [stats]
It has been almost a year since Haarsma was offered a free ride by Evansville, but two since he led Racine St. Catherine's to a WIAA state title as a high school senior. Haarsma did not play ball last year. He is entrenched in the Aces' rotation already in his first season, however, and sports some fairly robust shooting percentages (.542/.691/.444). The top three scorers for Evansville (17-13, 8-10) are all seniors, so Haarsma will have every chance to step up even more next season.

Alex Davis, F, Tennessee Tech (Ohio Valley) [stats]
After finishing his high school career at Milwaukee Lutheran in 2005, Davis spent a year at a prep school and popped up as a sophomore at Tennessee Tech (12-18, 6-12). He sat out the entire 2007-08 season after playing sparingly the year before. Davis was averaging about 20 min/g until February when he missed two in a row and struggled to get back after that. Though the Golden Eagles were not very good, Davis' two best games (13 pts, 10 rebs versus Eastern Illinois & a 21-pt outburst against Tennessee State) both resulted in wins.

Under 10 min/g:
Matt Dorlack, C, Eastern Illinois (Ohio Valley) [stats]
The 6'11" established a career-high back in December, but is still fighting to contribute for Eastern Illinois (12-18, 8-10).

Scott Christopherson, G, Iowa State (Big XII) [stats]
This former Wisconsin Mr. Basketball (2007) sat out the 2008-09 season upon transferring from Marquette, where he appeared in 18 games as a freshman reserve.

*Former Bay View star Dwight Buycks is returning to Milwaukee. He signed with Marquette after dominating the JUCO circuit the past two seasons at Indian Hills Community College. Buycks was named First-Team All-Region XI for the second straight season.

**Andrew Zimmerman, a 6'9" forward out of Oostburg, will presumably end up at Stanford at some point. He left Santa Clara in February 2008 after some shuffling in the coaching staff, despite some promising play as a freshman.

: : : Freshmen
This year's freshman class has a chance to produce a couple stars, even though it is tough for nearly all of them to get much court time right away.

30+ min/g:
Kwamain Mitchell, G, St. Louis (Atlantic 10) [stats]
Another Whitefish Bay Dominican player who has made a major impact for his team from day one. First of all, Mitchell kept his assist-to-turnover ratio above 1:1 right off the bat while scoring nearly 11 ppg as a freshman starter. Secondly, he leads St. Louis (18-13, 8-8) with 3.7 apg and adds over 3 rpg too as a freshman starter. Lastly, the former all-state selection laid in the winning basket in the Billikens' opening round victory in the conference tournament last Wednesday.

Under 10 min/g:
Korie Lucious, G, Michigan St. (Big Ten) [stats]
Michigan State did not need Lucious much as the Spartans (26-6, 15-3) romped through the Big Ten. The rookie didn't look half bad though. His first-year highlights included handing out 12 assists against Alcorn State and scoring 12 points on four 3-pointers against Iowa.

John Benkoske, C, Loyola (Horizon) [stats]
Benkoske is the latest Rambler from the Oshkosh West program. He played in 25 games this season but still needs to build a lot more muscle. Benkoske did averaged 12 min/g over the final seven games of the year.

Conor Smith, F, Richmond (Atlantic 10) [stats]
Smith wisely redshirted last season and began the year logging over 17 min/g. However, he did not play in many games during the conference season for the Spiders (17-14, 9-7). He has good length for his position at 6'9" and can step out to hit the trey.

Jake Gollon, F, Mercer (Atlantic Sun) [stats]
Stevens Point native Jake Gollon is a 6'6" wing who appeared in only two games this season for Mercer (17-15, 11-9). Hopefully he takes the redshirt since the Bears are a young team that loses only one senior.

*Last year's Mr. Basketball, DeMarcus Phillips, was also named First-Team All-Region XI as a freshman at Marshalltown Community College. Marshalltown plays in the same conference as Indian Hills and Buycks: the ICCAC.

**Meanwhile, two other top-rated Wisconsin players from the Class of 2008 -- Jake Barnett and Johnny Lacy -- are holding their own out east at famed Notre Dame Prep, which also features Class of 2009 prospect Calvin Godfrey. EDIT: Barnett will attend Toledo next fall.