Ten days after helping lead Wisconsin to its first national championship game since 1941, Frank Kaminsky came home to receive one last honor.
Benet Academy in Lisle held an assembly Thursday afternoon to honor Kaminsky, his alma mater. He was welcomed with a red carpet, pep band and a cheerful student body in the gym he once played high school hoops in.
Sweeping the various Player of the Year awards, including taking home the Wooden and Naismith Awards, Benet officially announced it would be retiring the No. 44 Kaminsky wore both at Benet and Wisconsin.
“It’s pretty cool, if you ask me,” Kaminsky said. “It’s hard to put into words what’s happening. It’s been a crazy year. It’s been a crazy couple years and it’s nice to be able to come back to your roots and get honored like this.”
The 2011 East Suburban Catholic Conference Player of the Year and Class 4A All-State First-Team pick in helping lead the Redwings to a 29-1 record in 2010-11, Kaminsky was his jovial self while holding court on Thursday.
“I’m proud to say I’m one of the best failures of all-time,” said Kaminsky, the 2014-15 Big Ten Player of the Year.
For the last two years at Wisconsin, which included two straight Final Four appearances, failure was the last word anyone would use to describe Kaminsky.
As a junior, Kaminsky set the Wisconsin single-game scoring record with 43 points against North Dakota on Nov. 19, 2013 and he earned All-Big Ten First Team honors his last two years.
His 732 points for the Badgers during the 2014-15 season set the program’s single-season scoring record and he became only the second player in Wisconsin history to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks.
The education he received both on and off the court at Benet paved the way for the success he would eventually enjoy at Wisconsin.
Kaminsky knows full well of the opportunities Benet afforded him.
“I learned to keep fighting, regardless of what the outcomes were,” Kaminsky said. “This is a tough school, so I learned in school and basketball, you just got to keep persevering through everything. My freshman year of high school here, I did terrible. I didn’t play in basketball. I mean, I felt sorry for myself.”
“But I learned that the only person who could change anything in my life was myself and I got to do it for myself. I think that’s the most important thing that’s taught here. If you want anything, you got to go out and get it.”
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