Sunday, February 27th, 2011.
Time: 5 PM
Location: Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin
Event: Senior Night
Who:
Wquinton Smith
Brett Valentyn
Tim Jarmusz
Jon Leuer
JP Gavinski
Keaton Nankivil
Wquinton Smith had a dream come true. He started as a student at Wisconsin and actually had the opportunity to fill a roster spot after an open try out. No lie, a campus call email for a tryout and this kid makes the team as a freshman. He battled, dove for loose balls, shattered guard lifting records and went from open call walk-on to earning a start as a senior. Unbelievable story.
I actually thought and hoped he'd get a bit more time down the stretch run of the season to take some pressure and minutes off Jordan Taylor, and in a few games he's been big. Purdue is a good match-up for him with Lewis Jackson.. Senior Night should be with Michael Thompson. He can guard Hulls from Indiana, so he should get some minutes late and into the Big Ten Tournament to keep JT fresh for March Madness and Smith, by all accounts, is up to the task.
Brett Valentyn is another Wisconsin walk-on story. Not Jimmy Leonhard like, but a local kid (Verona) that came to Wisconsin for an education and all the right reasons. An apparently very smart kid, Valentyn has made his way into 13 games this year (thus far), a career high. He also happens to love the 3-point shot, taking 17 of them.. otherwise known as 100% of his shot attempts on the year! Brett has made 6, for you math majors, giving him 18 points going into the game against Northwestern.
Valentyn was never really an "on floor factor" for UW but by all accounts is a great teammate and a very well liked player that worked his butt off in practice. Valentyn will hit at least a 3 on Sunday, you can take that to the bank. We could see Mr. Valentyn during the tournament for a zone buster if the Badgers need a 3 and some energy off the bench.
JP Gavinski is a tall, big, Wisconsin product that came to UW with some hype. He was named 2nd team all-state as a senior and averaged over 20 points, 9 boards and an incredible 7 blocks a game. There were questions about his competition and footwork or polish that needed to be answered. Unfortunately, they were answered in the amount of time JP has seen the floor these last few years, which wasn't much. Now, I know I said the other guys were good teammates, but I've heard some incredible stories about Gavinski's sense of humor and ability to get even the "Grinch," Bo Ryan to crack a smile here and there. Hustle, a great work ethic and big practice body along with that sense of humor have helped the Badgers squad the last few years.
My Sunday Gavinski projection: 1st and last career start, a board and an awkward looking missed shot.
Tim Jarmusz is the 4th member of the class to be from.. Wisconsin. Jarmusz is a much maligned Badger that doesn't appear to excel at anything but he's not glaringly inefficient at anything either. He is what he is (I hate that saying), and that is hard working, smart, and full of effort. He doesn't make mistakes, but he doesn't make plays. He's a proverbial glue guy that does the little things and that you can get by with as long as he makes a few open shots or the 4th guy (outside the Big 3) is hitting.
Jarmusz is hitting around 36% of his 3's this year, a solid number for his career but he doesn't do a ton else stats wise. I like him because he's been a bit more aggressive on offense this year and will battle on defense despite some physical limitations. Bo clearly trusts him on the floor.. and if Bo trust you, I trust you.
To end Tim's career, I think he's going to hit one big last shot.. whether at Ohio State (I wish), the Big Ten tournament or in an NCAA game that will catapult the team to victory.
Keaton Nankivil is the final member of the class.. from Wisconsin. Out of this year's 6 seniors, 5 hail from the state and Keaton hails from the capitol city itself. Nank is a guy I've waited to bust out offensively nearly every year in the program and this year, he's taken a step forward. His shot is easily the best on the team, doesn't matter where it's from: a 12 foot j, a free throw, or the 3 point line. I LOVE his shot and I wish he'd shoot it more.. a lot more. To me, 10 shots isn't enough for Keaton.. I want 12, at least.
He's been very aggressive on offense this year and holds his own on defense having to guard players that are constantly bigger than he is at 6-8. Keaton never really developed an offensive post game, but he can jump and hammers down a thunder dunk (or misses a thunder dunk) from time to time. He's good at coming over from the weak side and blocking shot because he's quick off his feet and has long arms for his size.
Nank has been an outstanding Badger and one that I'll be sad to see go when the season is done.
Jon Leuer is the final Badger senior and the most well known nationally. Everybody knows he's a Minnesota kid that grew like a beanstalk during high school shooting up like 4 feet to being this 6'10 kid with guard skills. There isn't much I can say about Leuer that hasn't been said. He's taken a leadership role on the team and embraced it; the Badgers wouldn't be 20+ game winners without him. He scores like a consistent machine and has gotten better rebounding in his time at Wisconsin. He's around 7+ a game right now. He's gotten better defensively; he can come over and block shots or move his feet enough to alter them.
He's a weird player in the swing.. sometimes I think he forces too many shots, other times, the nature of the offense seems to leave him with no touches when he has a a hot hand. All I know is that I love his desire to win and his attitude that he wants to score. At the same time, I've watched a lot of Badgers games and I know his moves fairly well around the block (not that I'm going to stop him) but bigger, stronger players have picked up on it as well.
Leuer is the next shot at being a Badger in the pros since Harris has never gotten on track and Tucker is in Russia. I hope he finds a few minutes on a roster next year.. but he's not done in Madison yet! He's got a final 4 to add to the list!
Overview: Continuing Ryan's tradition these guys win at home and finish higher than expectations. Another Badgers team will finish in the top 3 in the conference after being projected anywhere from 6-8th in the conference. A win Sunday will give them an undefeated year at home including top 10 wins over Purdue and Ohio State and an always enjoyable beatdown of Michigan State.
They'll win some games they maybe shouldn't (Purdue/Ohio State) and lose winnable games you don't think they will (Notre Dame/Penn State) and people will argue they are too slow, too conservative, not athletic and can't score.
This was a great group of seniors that had an all time scorer (Leuer), an incredible walk-on story (Smith) a gritty state kid (Jarmusz), 2 walk ons from Wisconsin (Gavinski, Valentyn) and a hometown kid that developed a pure stroke and became a huge 3rd scorer (Nankivil). The best part is, this regular season isn't done.. the Big Ten Tournament isn't done.. and March Madness hasn't started. This squad can cement itself in Badgers history; there is still time to get it done!
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