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There are only 2 teams who have made each of the past 2 Final Fours: 1 is Kentucky and the other is Wisconsin. Of the 1st 18 picks in the 2015 NBA draft, a whopping 6(!) of them played in the Badgers’ 7-PT win over the Wildcats in last year’s national semifinal: Sam Dekker/Frank Kaminsky/Karl-Anthony Towns/Trey Lyles/Willie Cauley-Stein/Devin Booker. 1 player from that game who is still in college is Zak Showalter, who went from 22 games as a walk-on freshman to redshirting in 2014 to almost winning a national title in 2015. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Zak about beating a team that was 38-0 and sharing a college coach with his father.
You won a Wisconsin high school state title while playing for your father Steve, who played for Coach Bo Ryan at UW-Platteville: how did you like playing for your dad, and was there any doubt about following in his footsteps and playing for Bo? It was a process: at first we butted heads a bit but after spending every day together for 4 years we learned a lot and it was a great experience. I always wanted to play for the Badgers because I respected the program so much, so that was the end goal, but to actually have it happen has been a dream come true.
You began your college career as a walk-on: how were you able to eventually earn a scholarship, and what was your reaction when you found out? I turned down about 18 scholarship offers to come here. Coach Ryan just gave me a call 1 day and said that I would be on scholarship: I had worked for that my whole life so it was pretty awesome!
You played in 22 games as a true freshman in 2013: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I just listened to the coach and paid attention to the older guys about what works in the system. If you know how it works and you learn from everyone, it is proven to succeed. I just did the little things I could to get on the court and help us win games.
You spent the following year as a redshirt: how did you reach that decision, and what was the hardest part? Josh Gasser came back from his torn ACL and I knew that Ben Brust/Traevon Jackson would also get a lot of playing time, so I decided to focus on my academic career after talking to Coach Ryan and my family. It was the best decision for me and I think it is paying off.
In the 2015 Big 10 tourney title game you played 4 minutes in an OT win over Michigan State: how were you able to hold the Spartans scoreless in OT, and what did it mean to you to win the title? I do not know if their legs got tired but their shots just did not fall in during OT and the ball bounced our way down the stretch. 1 of our goals was to win the conference title so it was just another item to check off our list.
Take me through the 2015 NCAA tourney:
You played 5 minutes in a 7-PT win over Kentucky: how on earth did you beat a team that was 38-0?! We watched a lot of film and studied their habits all year. We tried to not let them do what they liked to do, and we got enough stops and had enough energy down the stretch to pull off 1 of the biggest wins in school history.
In the title game you had a 5-PT loss to Duke: were you out for revenge after they beat you in Madison last December, and what did you learn from that game that you think can help you this year? I think we were more focused on accomplishing our goals but unfortunately they played better than us on that night. The Kentucky loss in 2014 motivated us to get back to the tourney last year, and the Duke loss in 2015 will motivate us similarly in the upcoming year.
Your non-conference schedule includes games against Georgetown/Oklahoma/Syracuse/Marquette: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? I think they are all going to be tough. Georgetown and Oklahoma played us very hard last year, and Marquette is always a battle. We want to be prepared for the Big 10 but I cannot say that any 1 game will be harder than the next 1.
You lost 5 of your top-7 scorers from last year: how will you try to replace all of that offense? We have guys who are ready to step up: this program has had players do that for a long time. We have been working our butts off and had really good guys in front of us last year, but now we are ready.
You have only 1 senior on your current roster: how much pressure is there on you as a junior to be a leader this year? We lost a lot of good leaders last year, but some of us have seen some good minutes in the past and we will have to make sure that we are all working together.
What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? We expect a lot out of ourselves. We do not necessarily write down our goals, but we expect to win a lot of games so we will see what happens. For now we are just ready to get started.