WISCONSIN BADGERS MEN'S BASKETBALL

The 'Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team' is a NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Big Ten Conference. Home games are played at the Kohl Center, located on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus in Madison, Wisconsin.

Contents

History

Early Years (1898–1911)

Walter Meanwell Era (1911–1934)

Harold Foster Era (1934–1959)

Recent Years

Final Four (1999–2000)

2000–2001 Season

2001–02 Season

2002–03 Season

2003–04 Season

2004–05 Season

2005–06 Season

2006–07 Season

Past Seasons

Coaching history

Current NBA Players

All-Time statistical leaders

Single-game leaders

External links

References

History

Early Years (1898–1911)

Wisconsin Badger basketball began in December, 1898 with the formation of its first team coached by Dr. James C. Elsom. The Badgers played their first game on January 21, 1899, losing to the Milwaukee Normal Alumni 25-15 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin [1]. In 1905, Christian Steinmetz became the first Wisconsin Badger basketball player to be named All-American. In the 1906-07 season, Wisconsin won its first share of the Big Ten Championship, under the coaching of Emmett Angell. They won it again the next year in 1908.

Walter Meanwell Era (1911–1934)

Walter Meanwell began coaching the Badgers in 1911. In his first season, he led Wisconsin to an undefeated season (15-0), and then led them to another 15-0 season in 1913-14. Meanwell's teams would win eight Big Ten Championships during his tenure, in 1912, 1913, 1914, 1916, 1921, 1923, 1924, and 1929. Between the 1917-18 and 1919-20 seasons, Guy Lowman coached the Badgers, leading them to a 1918 Big Ten Conference Championship before Meanwell returned in 1920. Meanwell would also coach two All-Americans during his Wisconsin career, George Levis in 1916 and Harold "Bud" Foster in 1930. On December 18, 1930, the first game was played in the new Wisconsin Field House, a basketball arena with a capacity of 11,500.

Harold Foster Era (1934–1959)

Starting with the 1934-35 season, former UW basketball player Bud Foster began coaching the Wisconsin Badgers. In his first season as head coach, he led the Badgers to their 12th Big Ten Conference Championship in 28 years. In 1941, Foster led the Badgers to their only NCAA Championship in history. With the help of tournament MVP John Kotz and All-American Gene Englund, the Badgers beat Washington State 39-34 in the final game of the NCAA Tournament. It was their first ever invitation to the NCAA Tournament, after winning the Big Ten Championship in that year. Foster coached three All-Americans during his tenure, Gene Englund in 1941, John Kotz in 1942, and Don Rehfeldt in 1950. The Badgers would go on to win one more Big Ten championship in 1947 and attend their second NCAA Tournament before a 50 year slump that wouldn't end until the 1990's.

Recent Years

Final Four (1999–2000)

In 2000, the Badgers, coached by Dick Bennett, entered the NCAA tournament seeded # 8 in the West bracket. Beyond most expectations, they defeated # 9 Fresno St, # 1 Arizona, # 4 LSU, and # 6 Purdue in order to advance to the Final Four. However, the Badgers then lost to #1 Michigan State 53-41.

2000–2001 Season

After three games into the 2000-01 season, Wisconsin coach Dick Bennett abruptly retired due to burnout, causing the Badgers to promote assistant Brad Soderberg to head coach. Soderberg led Wisconsin to a 18-11 record, but lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament, which was seen as a major disappointment to many Wisconsin fans. Soderberg was let go at the end of the season, and Wisconsin hired Bo Ryan as the new head coach.

2001–02 Season

In the 2001-02 season, under the new leadership of Bo Ryan, the Badgers won a share of the Big Ten Conference Championship for the first time since 1947, tying for first place in the Big Ten with Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio State.

2002–03 Season

In the 2002-03 season, the Badgers won the Big Ten Conference Championship outright. With three games remaining in the regular season, they were tied with Michigan and Illinois. After beating Michigan and Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois were set up for a final game showdown at the Kohl Center, with the winner becoming Big Ten champion. Wisconsin won the game in the final seconds on two Devin Harris free throws. However, Wisconsin lost in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament to Ohio State. The Badgers then attended the NCAA tournament with a # 5 seed. They beat Weber State in the first round, then rallied from 13 points down to beat Tulsa in the second round. The Badgers then lost to Kentucky in the Sweet 16.

2003–04 Season

In the 2003-04 season, Wisconsin finished second in the Big Ten behind Illinois. They went on to win the Big Ten Tournament, the only time they have won since the inception of the tournament in 1998. The Badgers defeated Minnesota in a quarterfinal, rallied to beat Michigan State in a semifinal, and defeated Illinois in the final. However, because the game was played too late to be taken under consideration by the NCAA Tournament selection committee, the Badgers received a # 6 seed. They defeated Richmond in the first round before losing to # 3 seed Pittsburgh in the second round.

2004–05 Season

In the 2004-05 season, Wisconsin finished third in the Big Ten. In the Big Ten Tournament semifinal against Iowa, Alando Tucker made a long shot at the buzzer to give UW a 3 point win, but the Badgers lost to # 1 ranked Illinois in the championship. In the 2005 NCAA Tournament, Wisconisn advanced to the Elite Eight by defeating #11 seed Northern Iowa, #14 seed Bucknell, and #10 seed North Carolina State before losing to # 1 North Carolina.

2005–06 Season

In the 2005-06 season, the Badgers had a somewhat disappointing season that culminated in a blowout loss to Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, and another blowout loss to Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The highlight of the season was a win over interstate rival Marquette.

2006–07 Season

In the 2006-07 season, the Badgers finished in 2nd place in the Big Ten behind # 1 ranked Ohio State. Wisconsin earned the 2nd seed in the Big Ten tournament, but lost in the championship to the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Badgers were selected as a 2nd seed in the NCAA tournament, but were defeated by 7th seeded UNLV in the second round. During the beginning of the season, the Badgers played extremely well with big victories at in-state rival Marquette, and at home against #2 ranked Pittsburgh and #5 ranked Ohio State. Their lone non conference loss was against Missouri State. The Badgers also lost on the road against Indiana on January 31, but on February 19, 2007, they earned their first #1 ranking in school history with a 26-2 record. The next day, they were defeated by the unranked Michigan State Spartans 64-55 at the Breslin Center. Then, a week later, they lost to the #2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, 48-49, following the injury of starting center Brian Butch. Entering the Big 10 Tournament the second seed, their first game was against Michigan State for their third meeting in three weeks. The Badgers defeated the Spartans 70-57. Advancing to the next round against Illinois, the Badgers would go on to win 53-41 and advance to the final to face Ohio State once again. The Buckeyes proved too strong for the Badgers, handily defeating them 66-49.

Past Seasons

Season	Overall Record	Big Ten Record	Big Ten Standing	Accomplishments
1986–87	14-17	4-14	8
1987–88	12-16	6-12	7
1988–89	18-12	8-10	6t	'NIT Second Round'
1989–90	14-17	4-14	8t
1990–91	15-15	8-10	7	'NIT Second Round'
1991–92	13-18	4-14	9
1992–93	14-14	7-11	8t	'NIT First Round'
1993–94	18-11	8-10	7	'NCAA Second Round' (# 9 seed)
1994–95	13-14	7-11	9
1995–96	17-15	8-10	8	'NIT Second Round'
1996–97	18-10	11-7	4t	'NCAA First Round' (# 7 seed)
1997–98	12-19	3-13	9t
1998–99	22-10	9-7	3t	'NCAA First Round' (# 5 seed)
1999–00	22-14	8-8	6	'''NCAA Final Four''' (# 8 seed)
2000–01	18-11	9-7	5	'NCAA First Round' (# 6 seed)
2001–02	19-13	11-5	1t	'Big Ten Champion; NCAA Second Round' (# 8 seed)
2002–03	24-8	12-4	1	'Big Ten Champion; NCAA Sweet Sixteen' (# 5 seed)
2003–04	25-7	12-4	2t	'Big Ten Runner-Up; Big Ten Tournament Champion; NCAA Second Round' (# 6 seed)
2004–05	25-9	11-5	3	'Big Ten Tournament Runner-Up; NCAA Elite Eight' (# 6 seed)
2005–06	19-12	9-7	4t	'NCAA First Round' (# 9 seed)
2006–07	30-6	13-3	2	'Big Ten Runner-Up; Big Ten Tournament Runner-Up; NCAA Second Round' (# 2 seed)

★ t = tied

Coaching history

Coach	Seasons	Record	Conference Record	Conference Titles	NCAA Championships
James C. Elsom	1899–1904	25-14	—
Emmett Angell	1905–1908	43-15	19-5	2
Haskell Noyes	1909–1911	26-15	18-15
Walter Meanwell	1912–1917	92-9	63-9	4
Guy Lowman	1918–1920	34-19	19-17	1
Walter Meanwell	1921–1934	154-90	95-71	4
Bud Foster	1935–1959	265-267	143-182	3	1
John Erickson	1960–1968	100-114	52-74
John Powless	1969–1976	88-108	42-78
Bill Cofield	1977–1982	63-101	32-76
Steve Yoder	1983–1992	128-165	50-130
Stu Jackson	1993–1994	32-25	15-21
Stan Van Gundy	1994–1995	13-14	7-11
Dick Bennett	1996–2000	93-69	39-45
Brad Soderberg	2000–2001	16-10	9-7
Bo Ryan	2001–	142-55	68-28	2
'Total'	'1898–2007'	'1314-1091'	'671-773'	'16'	'1'

Current NBA Players

★ Michael Finley (1995), drafted in first round by the Phoenix Suns, currently plays for the San Antonio Spurs.

★ Devin Harris (2004), drafted in first round by the Washington Wizards, currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks.

★ Alando Tucker (2007), drafted in first round by the Phoenix Suns, currently plays for the Phoenix Suns.

All-Time statistical leaders

Single-game leaders

★ Points Scored: Michael Finley (42, 1994) & Ken Barnes (42, 1965)

★ Assists: Tracy Webster (13, 1992) & Wes Matthews (13, 1979)

★ Rebounds: Paul Morrow (30, 1953)

★ Steals: Mike Kelley (10, 1999) & Michael Finley (10, 1993)

External links

★ Official Sports Site

★ Wisconsin Basketball History

References

★ Wisconsin Basketball History "A WINNING TRADITION", University of Wisconsin-Madison

★ Year-by-Year Records UW-Madison