Badgers to appear on National T.V.
After winning a share of the Big Ten title last season for the first time since 1947, the men’s basketball program has continued to gain momentum and garner national attention this summer.
The co-defending Big Ten champions have been selected for six national TV appearances during the ’02-’03 season after having only one nationally televised appearance during the regular season last year. Wisconsin will face off against Indiana and Minnesota on CBS.
The team will also be showcased nationally by ESPN or ESPN2 against Northwestern, Iowa, Michigan State and Wake Forest in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. This significant increase in national media attention will be helpful for recruiting purposes.
UW-Madison has also increased the team’s number of home games by four from last season. Last year the Badgers only hosted 13 games, while they played away 14 times. UW Badgerball played particularly long stretches of games away from the Kohl Center as they traveled to UNLV and then to Hawaii, visiting home briefly before playing at Georgia Tech.
“We felt we owed it to our fans in the Madison area to give them more home games this year,” UW basketball Head Coach Bo Ryan said. “One of the ways to do that was to sign one-year contracts with some teams and bring them to Madison. Plus, a number of our road games from last season, like UNLV, Ohio and UW-Milwaukee, return to the Kohl Center.”
This season, the Badgers will host a two-day preseason tournament at the Kohl Center beginning November 15. Northern Illinois, Eastern Washington, Winthrop and the Badgers will all take part in the NABC Classic.
“We feel honored that the NABC people chose us to host the tournament,” Ryan said. “Again, the fact that we got this tournament is a testament to the great support the people of Wisconsin have for our team and for the UW athletic program.”
Mader on the Big Ten Team
Wisconsin junior center Dave Mader and the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Foreign Tour All-Star Team completed their five-game trip with a 92-84 victory over the Ricoh Astronauts in Amsterdam to end the trip with a 4-1 record. Mader tied with Michigan’s Bernard Robinson for the team lead during the tour with 6.8 rebounds per game.
The Big Ten opened Saturday, Aug. 10 with a 108-52 victory over Tus Tries-Karden in Treis-Karden, Germany. Mader and Iowa’s Jared Reiner shared game-high honors with 11 rebounds as the Big Ten out-rebounded the German team 68-38.
The next day, Mader had 10 rebounds as the Big Ten squad defeated Telekom Baskets Bonn 84-78 in Bonn, Germany. The UW center also scored six points in each of the first two games.
The following Tuesday, an 81-79 Big Ten victory over Euphony Liege in Liege, Belgium gave the Big Ten Foreign Tour All-Stars nine straight victories, reminding many of last year’s team and tying the Big Ten’s longest winning streak. Mader contributed four points and three rebounds in the victory.
The Big Ten suffered its only loss of the tour Thursday, falling to Spirou Pepsi Charleroi, a top professional team in Belgium, 99-84 in Hamoir, Belgium. Mader turned in another strong performance on the boards, grabbing nine rebounds in 18 minutes. In Saturday’s win in Amsterdam, Mader was held to just one rebound as he fouled out in just 14 minutes of play.
In addition to his 6.8 rebounds per contest, Mader averaged 17.2 minutes per game (all 12 players averaged between 11 and 19 minutes) and 3.6 points per game. Illinois’ Roger Powell paced the squad with 14.0 points per game with Chris Hill of Michigan State adding 12.6 points.
Penney named to preseason Wooden Award list
Wisconsin senior guard Kirk Penney was named to the Wooden Award Preseason All-American Team. A total of 50 players were chosen based on last year’s individual performance and team records.
Penney was a first-team all-Big Ten selection last year as he led the Badgers to a share of the Big Ten Conference regular-season title. His 15.1 points paced the squad as he scored in the double digits 23 times. He was named Big Ten Player of the Week three times, tying Indiana’s Jared Jeffries for the most weekly honors. Penney, a native of New Zealand, represented his country in the 2000 Olympics and will do so again at the upcoming World Basketball Championships.
Penney was one of five Big Ten players named to the team. The others were Brian Cook of Illinois, Tom Coverdale of Indiana, Purdue’s Willie Deane and Chris Hill of Michigan State. This is the second time in three years Wisconsin has had a player named to the Wooden preseason team. Former UW point guard Mike Kelley was chosen prior to the 2000-01 season.
–compiled from staff reports
