Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
This week I would like to deviate from my usual political fare and talk sports for a moment.
As many of you already know, the UW Men’s Basketball Team played for the NCAA national championship earlier this week.
Although the Badgers failed in their attempt to win that coveted title, it was an extraordinary accomplishment to say the least.
It had been 71 years since Wisconsin last played for national bragging rights in men’s basketball.
But, Wisconsin’s basketball program has under gone a renaissance under head coach Bo Ryan.
A year ago the Badgers made it to Final Four before they lost a heart breaker to Kentucky.
Unbeknownst to the Badger faithful, the players on last year’s team committed themselves to the task of returning Final Four in order to claim the title that had escaped them.
With a bull’s-eye on their backs, the Badgers opened the collegiate basketball season ranked number 2 in the country, and proceeded to live up to those lofty expectations.
Like a juggernaut, they went out and won the Big Ten regular season crown (outright), the Big Ten Tournament Championship and were award a number 1 seed in the NCAA national tournament, for the first time in school history.
However, being awarded the number 1 seed in the West Region was anything but a cakewalk.
The Badgers had to contend with the likes of Oregon, North Carolina and Arizona before advancing to the Final Four. All season long, the Badgers had repeatedly said that they wanted a re-match with the Kentucky Wildcats, who had defeated them by a point last year.
The Badgers finally got their wish and had an opportunity to play Kentucky for the second straight year.
However, this year’s Wildcats team was even more formidable, and sported a perfect 38 and 0 record.
Not many sporting pundits gave Wisconsin a fighting chance against Kentucky, but when the smoke had cleared the Badgers had shocked the sporting world by handing the Wildcats their first and only loss of the season.
It goes without saying that this year’s Badgers basketball team will be remembered for many years to come, for number of reasons: most wins in a season (36); receiving number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament; and having been led into battle by the Player of the Year (Frank Kaminsky) to mention just a few. But, these sporting successes don’t hold a candle to the real accomplishments of this Badger team.
The Badger program truly epitomizes the concept of student-athletics; where players stay in school and matriculate to graduation; and are genuine ambassadors of the institutions that they attend.
In contrast to the mindset that college is merely a one-year detraction before moving on to the NBA.