Heating up the chill of Wisconsin this winter is one of Aruba's most talented rising stars, freshman tennis sensation Gian Hodgson.

Hodgson — the lone freshman on the Badgers' men's tennis team — conveys a clear message to anyone who will listen to him: Without a doubt, he will be the No.1 singles player at the University of Wisconsin by his graduation day.

"If I'm not the number one player when I am a senior, I'll be very disappointed, let's put it that way," Hodgson, who currently plays out of the No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions, said with a smile. "I personally think I should win every single match I play [this year] at five and six. Right now my matches aren't that tough."

Hodgson exudes the type of confidence that makes people believe the unranked Badgers may be on the verge of a major turnaround. Considering Wisconsin sported an overall record of just 8-14 last year, went 2-8 in Big Ten play and bowed out of the Big Ten Championship in the first round, the Badgers have really come a long way in a dramatically short period of time.

"It's quite rare that you find a team like us that gets along so well," Hodgson said. "We hang out off the court together. On the court, we're friendly with each other. Most teams in college will just have a bunch of individuals, and they're not really a team. In this team, you really get the feeling like we're a unit."

The Badgers (4-3 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) have acted and played like a unit thus far this spring. They won their first three duals convincingly, winning each of their first 21 matches. However, the last three duals before Saturday's upset victory against No. 51 Northwestern ended in defeat for the Badgers, losing to No. 4 Pepperdine, No. 28 Notre Dame and unranked Western Michigan.

"Western Michigan was just a big mistake," Hodgson said. "I think we took them lightly. We barely lost, but we didn't show up like we did [against Northwestern] … Notre Dame, they're a top team, and we hung in there. We had four three-set [matches]. I mean, if we win all four of them, instead of losing them, we win [the dual]."

Hodgson tends to see the glass half-full even when there is hardly a sip left in the cup. He was again able to think positively when reflecting on the Badgers' 6-1 pounding at the hands of Pepperdine.

"At Pepperdine, we played the No. 4 [team] in the nation. I played No. 6 in singles, and I beat the guy 7-6, 7-6, in two tough sets. That was a big win; it's probably going to give me confidence for the rest of the year. Even when I lose a match like [Saturday's three-set heartbreaker to Northwestern senior Adam Schaechterle], I can still look at that [Pepperdine] match and think about [the fact] that I have a good win under my belt."

After Saturday's unfortunate defeat, in which Hodgson battled assiduously for each and every point against the older Schaechterle, Hodgson dropped to 4-3 in singles this spring and to 11-6 in singles on the year. His doubles record is not as solid; he and sophomore Brennen Phippen are only 1-3 this spring and 2-4 on the season.

"Doubles is fun and stuff," Hodgson said, "but I like being on the court by myself. If you make a mistake, it's your fault."

Hodgson's sense of reality and his knack for assuming responsibility is extremely rare for a student-athlete today. For a freshman living thousands of miles away from home, in a new country, his level of poise and discretion is simply amazing.

"I'm a big boy," said Hodgson, again smiling. "I don't let anyone push me around. I'm like two years younger than anyone else on the team, but I feel like I'm more mature than some of the guys on the team."

Hodgson, who grew up in Savaneta, Aruba, was forced to mature rapidly at a young age; he left his parents' home in Savaneta for Saddlebrook Tennis Academy in Tampa, Fla., when he was just fifteen years old. His transition from the Caribbean Sea to the United States was a smooth one, said Hodgson.

"It wasn't that tough because [Saddlebrook] was a tennis academy, so I was around people who had the same goals as I did," he said. "The weather was still kind of the same as Aruba — It didn't snow."

Hodgson has had to adjust to below-freezing temperatures since coming to Madison. With the temperatures dipping way below zero this past weekend, it gave him a taste of what is yet to come in his college career.

"I thought it was really cold outside," he said. "I mean, it's freezing outside. I just hope I can go back to Aruba sometimes."

For the Badgers' men's tennis team's sake, let's just hope he was joking.