Entrenched in his 14th season at Wisconsin, Bo Ryan has a simple response for all of his success at the helm of the Badgers’ program, which has included three Big Ten titles, a pair of Big Ten Tournament titles and a long-awaited trip to last year’s Final Four.
“I haven’t been accused of overselling anything. … So when young men come into Wisconsin, I don’t have to remember what I said to them,” Ryan said after his fourth-ranked team dispatched of Northwestern, 81-58, on Sunday night. … “So they know coming in, it’s a lot of hard work, there’s guys in front of them. They want their spots, they got to go take them.”
Over the last two years, that’s exactly what Frank Kaminsky has done.
Playing behind Mike Bruesewitz and Jared Berggren during each of his first two years at Wisconsin, Kaminsky bided his time while averaging just 4.2 points and 1.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore in 2012-13.
With a program single-game record 43 points in a victory over North Dakota in November 2013, the 2011 Benet graduate and 2011 Naperville Sun Co-Prep Basketball Player of the Year offered a glimpse of what everyone around Naperville and Lisle knew while watching him play at Benet.
Given the opportunity to finally send Ryan to his first Final Four and Wisconsin back to college basketball’s signature event for the first time since 2000, Kaminsky showed the nation what he was all about.
Behind a 25-point, 11-rebound effort, Kaminsky sparked the Badgers to a 64-63 overtime upset of top-seeded Arizona in the West Regional Final—garnering him West Regional Most Outstanding Player honors.
“I don’t know if people in the Chicago area were saying Frank was that good when he was in high school. Who were you hanging around? Frank said he was that good,” Ryan said of Kaminsky, with a chuckle. “No, he was developing. He was developing in a very nice way, maturing. Obviously had good tutoring along the way, high school, AAU, his parents.
“He’s grown in a lot of ways. He sees things better on the floor. His help and recover (defense), his timing. All those things happened. Last year, we were able to get the Bulls’ strength coach to come up to Madison and that’s one of the best things that’s happened for us.”
Amidst earning All-Big Ten first-team honors last year after averaging 13.9 points and 6.3 rebounds for a 30-win Badger outfit, Kaminsky was named 2014-15 Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year.
As he and his teammates continue to work towards another Big Ten title and perhaps another long run in the NCAA Tournament, Kaminsky knows he’ll be approached differently going forward, in large part to his performance against Arizona last year.
“It is different this year,” he said. “I see a lot more different defenses than I did in the past, but I’m just still trying to do whatever I can to take the biggest advantage or read the defense and see how they’re playing and try to do whatever I can to score and help my team.”
Through Wisconsin’s first 15 games and its victory at Northwestern on Sunday, the 7-foot, 234-pound Kaminsky had posted averages of 16.6 points and 8.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists a game.
His versatility and ability to do a multitude of things in and around the basket hasn’t gone unnoticed to those who play alongside him.
“Frank opens up so much for the whole team. He gets so much attention inside and for good cause, he’s one of the best players in the nation,” Sam Dekker said. “He’s going to get a lot of that attention. (Opponents) are going to double down a lot and that’s going to open up looks for us. When we move the ball, it gives us a lot of easy looks. … He opens up so much for us and it makes us a much better team.”
His presence inside allowed the Badgers to hit on seven of their first 10 three-point attempts in the 81-58 victory over Northwestern in January as five different Badgers combined to hit on 12 three-pointers.
Kaminsky’s first-half output, five points, six rebounds and five assists, against Northwestern was rather modest as the Badgers led by 22 at halftime.
By the end of the night, he ended up with his seventh double-double of the season after matching Dekker with team-high scoring honors with 16 points while corralling 10 rebounds.
Color his coach not surprised.
“That’s Frank Kaminsky. He’ll play the other parts of the game (other than scoring) and that’s why he’s one of the better players in the country and that’s why a lot of people would like to have him on their team because he’s a complete player,” Ryan said.
