Wisconsin relishes flying under the radar, looks to cap grueling tournament run

INDIANAPOLIS—Wisconsin's path to the national title game has been one of the toughest roads ever assembled. The Badgers have worked their way through a gauntlet of elite college programs, from North Carolina to Arizona to Kentucky, and now must conquer Duke if they want to claim their first national title since 1941.

Those four opponents have a combined 26 McDonald's All-Americans. Wisconsin has none. But it is the Badgers who are 40 minutes from cutting down the nets Monday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.

"I know Bronson [Koenig] sent out a tweet a while ago that said we have seven Wisconsin All-Stars. [Duke and Kentucky] don't have any of those," senior Josh Gasser said. "It doesn't matter where you were when you were 16, 17 years old. It matters where you are now, and we've proven that we're a pretty good team, we play well together, we're well-coached. That's all that matters."

Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan got the job in Madison after winning four national championships at Division III Wisconsin-Platteville, and has built his program on fundamentally sound basketball, recruiting the Midwest and grooming players for their first few seasons before unleashing them on the Big Ten. Fifteen of the 16 Badgers on the roster hail from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois or Ohio.

Overlooked by many, the Badgers have gone right at their more-touted opponents this postseason, scoring at an historic offensive clip at 1.3 points per possession, according to basketball statistician Ken Pomeroy's offensive efficiency ratings. And although no Badgers earned the national accolades coming out of high school bestowed upon the Duke and Kentucky recruits, several have developed into stars in the last two years.

Frank Kaminsky started two games in his first two seasons for Ryan. He used the time on the bench to develop his game both inside and out. Now, as a senior, the 7-foot center swept the major national player of the year awards this week, posting 18.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.

"I just think back in high school and everything, there were people that were considered better than me, and that kind of irritated me. I don't know why. It's just something deep in me," Kaminsky said. "I've always been very competitive in everything. In a sport like basketball, you always want to be better than your competition."

Kaminsky played at Benet Academy in suburban Chicago—a fertile recruiting ground for the Blue Devils—but never ran into Jahlil Okafor, another Windy City product. He didn't register on the Duke recruiting radar, either.

"I never saw him. I never saw him as a high school prospect, so I don't remember Kaminsky until last year," Duke associate head coach and lead recruiter Jeff Capel said. "I think it speaks volumes of him, of who he is as a guy. You see so many guys right now where if it's not working for them, they leave, they transfer. Very few guys want to stick it out and fight."

Assistant coach Jon Scheyer saw Kaminsky play once in high school, when he returned to Chicago to watch a tournament while still starring in a Blue Devil uniform.

"I thought he was a very good player but I never knew how good of a player he was," Scheyer said. "I can't really think of many guys who have done what he's done."

In the age of one and done recruits who make the jump to the NBA after a pit stop in college, Ryan's program might seem old-fashioned. After a devastating loss to Kentucky in last year's Final Four, both Kaminsky and Sam Dekker turned down the pro ranks to come back to school for another shot at the national title.

They have their opportunity Monday night.

A win against the Blue Devils would get Ryan over the hump in the NCAA tournament and put an end to a title drought that predates the outbreak of World War II. The title would mean one thing, but to complete the grueling run through the bracket would add some extra satisfaction.

"To beat North Carolina, Arizona, Kentucky and now have a shot at Duke, that's pretty remarkable for a school that's not considered a powerhouse," Gasser said. "We've done it the past four or five years, and it's just getting shown nationally now the past year or two."