[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]The 2006-07 season has officially begun for the Wisconsin men's basketball team.

While there were no midnight festivities of any sort, the team started practice bright and early Saturday morning, and head coach Bo Ryan couldn't be happier.

"Having had 30-some years of having first day practices, I would say this rates up there with some of the best," Ryan said. "They know how I am: I like good listeners and quick learners, and they picked up on a lot of things."

All 16 players were in attendance, though some got a bit nicked up during the practice session, most notably senior guard Kammron Taylor was sporting a bruised lip afterwards.

"A couple of shiners will be shown tomorrow, a couple bigger lips, maybe a couple of cauliflower ears on some guys," Ryan said. "And that was just during stretching."

Practice was closed to the media, but Ryan said the team worked primarily on defense.

"It was 90 percent defensive," Ryan said. "We actually shot a little bit at the end, we shot free throws. We don't leave the gym without at least getting free throws in, but it was mostly all footwork, defensive footwork."

With 12 returning players, losing only Ray Nixon, Wisconsin has garnered a great amount of preseason hype, being amongst the top 10 in the nation in almost every poll, though none are official yet.

Even Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly was at the Nicholas-Johnson Pavilion Saturday to check out the Badgers on their first day.

Though most coaches don't look too much into preseason polls, Ryan — the winningest active Division I head coach with at least 20 years of experience in the NCAA — says Wisconsin's ranking is all about respect.

"I don't want this to come off the wrong way, but having been at another school where we were kind of ranked No. 1 in the country maybe seven out of 10 years, for me this is fine from the standpoint of people are showing respect for what the team has done for the past X number of years," he said.

Ryan also mentioned that preseason rankings never have had an effect on his team as their own personal expectations have always been higher.

"These guys have their own expectations," Ryan said. "From a basketball standpoint when it comes to expectations, where people on the outside rate us, rank us, position us. That's OK because we know it's all part of the game, but that had nothing to do with the drills we did on the floor today."

Saturday was also the first practice ever for the freshman class of Jason Bohannon, J.P. Gavinski, Trevon Hughes and Brett Valentyn, and Ryan noticed no signs of any first-day jitters from the newcomers.

"They add to the drills," Ryan said. "All we've ever asked of freshmen is while you're running, make sure you're adding. They competed, and I liked what I saw."

The UW women's basketball team also tipped off the 2006-07 season last week with its first official practice Friday night.

Heading into her fourth year as head coach at Wisconsin, Lisa Stone is hoping this will be her break-through year as she has yet to finish a season with a .500 record.

"Our team goals for the 2006-07 season are to reach post-season play," Stone said in a UW press release. "Our goal is to improve every single day."

Without a single senior on the roster, Stone knows she has her hands full with a young team, but says her coaching style will remain the same.

"The No. 1 key is patience," she said. "Our five freshmen bring a great deal of ability, and expectations for them will be very high. However, one must remember this is their first year playing at the college level."

With two true point guards in Sarah Ingison and Rae Lin D'Alie coming in, Stone can finally move juniors Janese Banks and Jolene Anderson to their natural positions off the ball.

"I believe Janese and Jolene are excited about this season because they are in a position where they will not have to create each shot, but be put in a position where shots are created for them within our offense," Stone said.

Both teams begin play in early November.