[media-credit name=’GREG SCHMITZ/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]PHILADELPHIA — One and done.

Even though the infamous phrase fits the UW basketball team's performance in this year's NCAA tournament, many of the team's players simply aren't buying it.

While the 94-75 loss to eighth-seeded Arizona marks the end of the Badgers' 2005-06 season, Wisconsin would rather opt for another all-too-common saying — there's always next year.

Though Wisconsin was certainly a disappointed team in the locker room following the first-round loss, many players couldn't help but be optimistic to start next season already — and understandably so.

The Badgers lose only lone senior Ray Nixon, and all the hardships they suffered this season will certainly pay dividends for the young team's improvement going into next year.

"We have to use this game as a starting point for next year," freshman Joe Krabbenhoft said. "We've got a lot of young guys and we'll get after it."

With Wisconsin losing only Nixon, practically the same lineup will be on the floor next season with a year's experience of playing together under its belt.

Not to mention the Badgers hope to get back some of their missing contributors off the bench in freshman Marcus Landry and sophomore Greg Stiemsma. The two were ruled academically ineligible this semester, which undeniably affected Wisconsin's hot mid-season stride and resulted in a roller-coaster ride for the rest of the year.

But while much of the team is returning in 2006-07, staying together over the offseason will still be critical if the Badgers hope to build on this past season for next year.

"As a team, we have to all stay together," junior Alando Tucker said. "We had a tough time, but if you look over the course of the season and look back at it, we did some incredible things despite the fact that we lost guys and a lot of adversity we handled. But as a team, we stuck together, and that's one of [the] things we're still trying to do for next year."

And with so many players coming back, Tucker thinks a loss like this will actually help in the long run.

"We were young, and I think this really helps," Tucker said. "Guys need experience, and we've got a lot of guys coming back. We lost one guy in Ray (Nixon), but everybody else is coming back, and they should take from this year having been through a tough Big Ten schedule, playing in an NCAA tournament, playing in the Big Ten tournament — that gives players experience."

Even head coach Bo Ryan was more than willing to talk about next year after his team's abysmal loss to the Wildcats — it must've been the aroma of cheese steaks and hoagies that got to him.

Or maybe it was because he simply couldn't find a spot to hide in his hometown of Philadelphia during the embarrassing loss.

"I couldn't hide," Ryan joked. "I looked for a spot, but somebody in the band had already taken it."

In all seriousness, however, Ryan is already looking forward to next year, just like the players.

"[Next year] looks pretty good," Ryan said. "I like what we have going. … A lot of these guys will come back next year better, hopefully all of them."

Aside from the 13 potential returning players from this year's roster, Ryan is also happy to welcome three new, highly touted recruits next year.

Jason Bohannon, J.P. Gavinski and Trevon Hughes make up Wisconsin's recruiting class of 2006, and all hope to play a role in the Badgers' success next season.

Gavinksi, a 6-foot-11 center out of Wisconsin Dells High School, and Hughes, a 6-foot-2 guard who scored 22 points in St. John's Northwest Military Academy's (Delafield, Wis.) loss to Seymour in the WIAA Division II state tournament semifinals in Madison Friday, will add some much-needed depth to their respective positions for Wisconsin's roster.

And as for Bohannon — a 6-foot-2 guard from Linn-Marr High School in Marion, Iowa — he is simply the type of player Ryan loves to coach.

"You've just got to like the kid," Ryan said of Bohannon. "They were down and the fans started chanting in a derogatory way, and he scored 17 points in three minutes, and they won by one. I like those kind of guys."

But Ryan won't be looking to the three newcomers as much as he will be to Landry and Steimsma to bounce back from their academic suspensions.

Whereas some coaches would probably be upset with their mishaps in the classroom this past semester, Ryan hopes to see the two improve both on and off the court next year and help the two out as much as he possibly can as their head coach.

"Hopefully, the other guys that had some misfortune that, as coaches, just like family members, you just keep encouraging them and working with them, that they'll be ready to go," Ryan said. "It doesn't change anything now, but we're always ready to teach, we're always ready to help guys get better, that's for sure."

Next year appears to be getting better already — and that's for sure.