Made ‘Em Believe
An oral history of Wisconsin's 2014 and 2015 Final Four teams
Andy Baggot, UWBadgers.com Insider
11/13/2024
Did they make us believe? Damn right they did.
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) November 16, 2024
They made us believe. They made us proud.
Ten years later, we welcome our back-to-back Final Four teams back home to the Kohl Center.
Narrated by @MattLepay pic.twitter.com/sjjr3rF9sB
On Friday, Nov. 15 when Wisconsin hosts Arizona at the Kohl Center, members of UW's 2014 and 2015 Final Four teams will be welcomed back at the Kohl Center for a 10-year anniversary celebration. Prior to the game, members of those back-to-back runs will be recognized. At halftime, coach Bo Ryan will have a banner with his name raised into the Kohl Center rafters.
Josh Gasser heard the question and immediately responded with a long, loud laugh.
Does it seem as though a decade has passed since the Wisconsin men’s basketball team played in back-to-back NCAA Final Fours?
“It’s crazy to think that it’s been 10 years,’’ he said. “Part of me feels like it was yesterday. Then there’s part of me that feels like it’s been a lot longer than that and how quickly life can move along.’’
The 2013-14 club surprised many by opening with 16 straight wins, endured a mid-season slump that cost them at least a share of the Big Ten Conference title, regained their footing and ultimately gave their future Hall of Fame coach, Bo Ryan, a gift that only he could fully appreciate.
“We felt like we were a really good team, but I don’t think anybody knew exactly how good we were,’’ standout power forward Frank “The Tank’’ Kaminsky said. “We just took it one day at a time and approached every game like it was to go to the Final Four.’’
The Badgers needed help to overcome a 12-point halftime deficit against Oregon and got it from the highly partisan crowd of 18,206 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee to reach the Sweet 16.
After dominating Baylor to get to the Elite Eight, Wisconsin outlasted Arizona in an epic overtime duel to reach its first Final Four since 2000. That’s where this group of Badgers endured their first dose of March Madness heartbreak courtesy of a last-second, one-point loss to eight-time NCAA champion Kentucky.
Teams like that are rare. Nobody cared about anything but winning. Nobody cared who got the points. No one cared who got the credit. The kids were smart enough to realize that they had something special.Frank Kaminsky Sr.
The 2014-15 squad, better, deeper and more confident – led by Kaminsky and junior guard/forward Sam Dekker, both NBA first-round draft picks – won the Big Ten Conference regular-season and tournament titles, traveled largely the same path to the national semifinals as the year before, knocking off Oregon and Arizona in regional rematches.
The ultimate outcome came in the Final Four semifinals when UW got a measure of vengeance by depriving Kentucky (38-1) of an unbeaten season with a 71-64 triumph before falling to Duke 68-63 in the NCAA title game.
“For us, that was our championship,’’ forward Vitto Brown said of the win over the Wildcats. “If I had to point to one reason why we didn’t win it all, it would be that we put so much into beating Kentucky. It felt like that was the championship match-up. No disrespect to Duke, but it felt like a letdown.’’
A vast storehouse of epic moments and special people came together for the Badgers on the court and off it during their magical, unprecedented two-year run. That includes parents, family members and friends. That includes future wives, in-laws and kids.
Those bonds continue to be fortified in a host of joyous ways, like the Kaminsky family joining the Brust family for weekly services at Wheaton Bible Church in West Chicago, or Jordan Smith standing up in Frank Kaminsky’s wedding, or Kaminsky serving as a groomsman in Brust’s wedding nuptials, or the Brusts, Dekkers, Gassers, Kaminskys, Showalters and Smiths still gathering at the Nitty Gritty for semi-annual get-togethers.
“It’s very unusual,’’ said Frank Kaminsky Sr. “For some reason, we just all clicked. We just had fun. I don’t know if they’ve had a group of parents before us or had a group of parents like us afterwards, but we all genuinely cared about each other and each other’s kids and supported and helped. It is a unique bond and one that I cherish.’’
Their sons enjoyed a similar relationship with one another.
“Teams like that are rare,’’ said Kaminsky Sr. “Nobody cared about anything but winning. Nobody cared who got the points. No one cared who got the credit. The kids were smart enough to realize that they had something special.’’
There might be teams that win more games. There might be teams that win a championship. But I don’t know if there’s many teams out there that had what we had in terms of our cohesiveness as a group.Josh Gasser
Then-UW assistant coach and now head coach Greg Gard said the Badgers had the ideal mental skill set.
“They meshed,’’ he said. “That group had the perfect combination of maturity, cohesiveness and a lot of time together. I never saw a group of players own and talk about the expectations like that group did.’’
Gasser offered perhaps the best overview.
“It was truly a special group,’’ he said. “On the court it was special. Everyone knew their role. Everyone brought something different to the table. It was like a puzzle that just fit perfectly together with the lineups that were out there.
“At the same time, we had this over-arching theme of competitiveness, will to win, toughness. We were all the same at the end of the day. Everyone brought fun and laughter. The different personalities just meshed together so well.
“I’ve never been part of a team, one through 16, where everyone felt like they had a voice, everyone felt like they could be themselves. It was truly 16 guys understanding their roles on the court and in the locker room. That’s hard to replicate.
“There might be teams that win more games. There might be teams that win a championship. But I don’t know if there’s many teams out there that had what we had in terms of our cohesiveness as a group,” Gasser said.
For nearly 40 years, William “Butch’’ Ryan had accompanied his only son, Wisconsin coach William “Bo’’ Ryan, to the NCAA Final Four where Butch became a fun-loving fixture. Against that backdrop, he kept on telling Bo that one day he would coach a team in the NCAA Division I Final Four. Seven months later, after Butch died of complications from pneumonia at the age of 89, that prophecy came true.
Bo recalled spending a quiet moment of reflection after a taut, draining 64-63 overtime victory over Arizona.
“I kind of said, ‘Hey, dad, what do you think?’’’ Bo said. “This one’s for you.’ It was personal. I didn’t want to make it some kind of spectacle.’’
In late August of 2013, Gard chartered a flight to Chester, Pa., to attend Butch’s funeral. He brought with him Gasser, Kaminsky, senior guard Ben Brust and senior forward Zach Bohannon.
“He didn’t know we were coming,’’ Gard said of his boss, who was clearly moved by the effort and the gesture, which had an impact on all those involved.
“I think what it did is it helped (the players) see the human side of Bo,’’ Gard continued. “Bo wasn’t great at making himself vulnerable to players. You saw him in this light and this light only. It allowed them to see him in a different light at his dad’s funeral and it also allowed him to see them. I think it was an important moment in terms of connecting everybody a little bit more.’’
Kaminsky on that moment in time: “I think that all ties into how beautiful a time it was for our school, all the players, all the coaches. Everyone has their own specific story attached to that moment, that game, to the time period. For coach, it was having his dad being able to see him accomplish that and coach a team that goes to the Final Four.’’
The Badgers nearly stumbled out of the NCAA tournament gates in 2014 despite an electric home-court advantage in Milwaukee.
“It looked like we were dead in the water,’’ Ryan said.
“We were down 12 at half at the Bradley Center,’’ Brust said. “I know I didn’t listen to a word that Bo was saying because I was having those doubts that this might be the last game of my career as a Wisconsin Badger and I didn’t want to go down like that.
“So, here’s a couple moments from that second half: Frank hit a jumper to put us up and I remember running in for a rebound and when I saw (that shot) go through the net, I felt every hair in my body stand up because the Bradley Center was as loud as it’s ever been. That environment was unbelievable and one of the coolest games I’d ever been a part of.’’
One of Brust’s four made threes was one that simultaneously put UW ahead for good and enabled him to temporarily break the program’s career three-point record now held by Brad Davison. The Badgers went on to win 85-77.
“To sit at halftime and think my career was over and then hit the three to put us up and we never relinquished the lead and to break the all-time three-point record which had stood for 40 years was kind of icing on the cake there,’’ he said.
Ryan said beating previously unbeaten Kentucky in the 2015 Final Four semis was his favorite game of his career, but a close second was the victory over Arizona in 2014.
He said he offered no pep talk beforehand and there never was a lot of information on the white board in the locker room.
I wanted that game more than any game in my entire life. Because I wanted to do something that I’ve never been able to do with teammates that I loved. You can’t recreate a feeling like that. Doing it together made it so much more special. Everyone had a piece of it.Ben Brust
“I always tried to make sure that our conversations as the head coach and with the team were about what’s important: Who do we have to keep off the glass, who do we have to force left, what kind of pressure do we have to prepare for,’’ Bo said. “I felt as a coach that it was my job to prepare for the games. If you give a rah-rah speech in December, what are you going to do in January?
“Besides, I always wanted young men who fired themselves up within in their own minds. I always thought I had players smart enough to know how big the game was.’’
Outside of a double-double by Kaminsky (28 points, 11 rebounds) – he scored six of Wisconsin’s final points in overtime – the Badgers struggled on offense, but they did just enough to win. The Wildcats had three cracks at taking the lead in the final 12 seconds, but failed to convert.
Gasser: “I remember how physically imposing they looked. It felt like we were never going to score. It felt really hard to score. It always felt like we were playing from behind. It felt like we were always trying to get over the hump, but couldn’t. I just remember the amount of stress and anxiety of each possession being magnified the entire game.
“It was one of those games where we’d never been to a Final Four, Coach Ryan had never been to a Final Four, so it was always in the back of your head. Can we do this? Are we actually going to do this? I never believed it fully until the buzzer sounded.’’
Brust: “I had the utmost joy cutting down nets with my teammates because I didn’t cut down nets in my entire life. I had never been nervous for a game in my entire life. I was a mess in that game.
“I wanted that game more than any game in my entire life. Because I wanted to do something that I’ve never been able to do with teammates that I loved. You can’t recreate a feeling like that. Doing it together made it so much more special. Everyone had a piece of it.’’
A lot of people assumed the Badgers would return to the national spotlight in 2015 and a rematch with Arizona was somewhere in the offing.
“People said, ‘Oh, you guys will be back because you have such a good team,’’’ Gasser said. “In reality, it’s really hard to get back. It’s really hard to stay healthy. It’s a one-game tournament. You don’t just make it back no matter how good you or how good you think you are.’’
But folks were right about another duel with the Wildcats.
“I don’t know how thrilled I was to play Arizona again because I knew how much of a grind-it-out game it was the year before,’’ Gasser said.
“Our film indicated they hadn’t changed much,’’ Ryan said, referring to his coaching counterpart, Sean Miller. “It was our fundamental rules vs. their fundamental rules. Who could do it better? The fact that we had as many guys back as we did, I thought we had a little bit of an edge there. I feel it definitely helped us.’’
I was just so happy for them and the fans, the people that make sacrifices to be at those games. Wisconsin fans travel as well as anybody. The kind of support we had during those two runs was marvelous.Bo Ryan
Ryan said guard Bronson Koenig and forward Nigel Hayes were sophomores who played like juniors, while senior forward Duje Dukan became a strong contributor off the bench.
Said Gasser: “They walked in with a ton of confidence. I think they felt like they should have beaten us the year before and they wanted to come out and prove it.’’
Kaminsky (29 points) and junior guard/forward Sam Dekker (27) starred in what Gasser said was, “honestly, one of the best-played games in Badger basketball history,’’ an 85-78 triumph.
Kaminsky: “We knew they were going to be feeling that we had gotten lucky or whatever and they should have beaten us the year before and they wanted to get revenge against us. We weren’t going to let that happen.’’
Kaminsky felt frisky before the first Arizona game.
“I was feeling the exact same way for the second one,’’ he said.
There was talk from the Wildcats side that Brandon Ashley, a 6-9 power forward who didn’t play in the 2014 game, would guard Kaminsky and make life more difficult for him.
“Our first bucket of the game was a post-up on him and I got an and-one,’’ Kaminsky said. “We were all extremely motivated in that one because they were saying things like they were just better than us and we’d gotten lucky the year before. I didn’t like that.’’
A year after a highly emotional postgame celebration, this one was simply more joyful.
“It was more fun,’’ Gasser said. “Everyone was so happy. You could be in the moment, completely aware of what was going on. The difference was that we had much bigger goals beyond that.’’
Said Bo: “I was just so happy for them and the fans, the people that make sacrifices to be at those games. Wisconsin fans travel as well as anybody. The kind of support we had during those two runs was marvelous.’’
Kaminsky: “You don’t want to mitigate all the things we did accomplish by placing it all into one basket of we had to win a national championship. We were there. We were close. We almost did it twice.
“So, you have to find happiness in the journey and the memories you created doing that instead of just focusing on that one point, that we didn’t win the national championship because that would be a disservice to all the things that we did do; the people we touched, the lives we changed, the community things we did.
Not winning the title, that’s never going to go away. But at the end of the day, does that really matter? Trust me, I’d love to be a national champion, but the impact we had, the fun that we had, the relationships and memories, that stuff is just as important.Josh Gasser
“Would we all trade a lot to be able to go back and have another chance to do it? I think everyone – unanimously across the board – would answer yes.
“But if you just sit there and think about that, you’ll drive yourself crazy. So, I choose to remember all the great times and all the things we did win and the big games against the really good teams we played against. We just came up short.’’
Gasser: “As a kid growing up, even when I was making my college decision, a big factor was ‘Can I play in an NCAA tournament game?’ That’s all I wanted to do was to see my team’s name on the bracket one time. To get to play in four of them – four Sweet 16s and make back-to-back Final Fours – that’s pretty cool.
“We all came together and created something special. It’s a thing that will always tie us together.
“Not winning the title, that’s never going to go away. But at the end of the day, does that really matter? Trust me, I’d love to be a national champion, but the impact we had, the fun that we had, the relationships and memories, that stuff is just as important.’’
Ryan was asked if he had a favorite player from the two Final Four teams. He offered an obvious answer, but his rationale was sincere: Kaminsky, the consensus national player of the year in 2015 who became the first player in program history to win the Naismith Trophy, the Wooden Award and the Oscar Robertson Trophy.
“I don’t use the term “favorite’ but I would use any other superlative you want to throw out there because that has not been done that I know of, to go from a few minutes as he had the first two years to then have the junior and senior years play out the way he did,’’ Ryan said.
“Every drill he worked hard. He wasn’t shy when it came to every hustle drill, every take-a-charge drill, every dive-on-the-floor drill. Everything we did, he did like a 6-5 guy.
“His counter moves and the things he developed through our assistant coaches. He was always hungry. I always like players who had more questions than answers. There’s a lot of players out there that think they have all the answers. I didn’t recruit those kinds of guys.
“Frank was one of those guys that was all ears, eyes and mind. Big guys mature a little later and that’s what I saw in Frank. The way he passed. His feel for the game. He worked so hard. To go from where he was to national player of the year.’’
Kaminsky: “If you’d have asked Bo after my first two years, he might have said I was one of his least favorite players that ever came through the program. That’s how it felt at some points.’’
Kaminsky recalled his recruiting visit with Ryan.
“We sit down in his office and he says, ‘I want to show you a couple pieces of film.’ I’m thinking he’s going to pull out Wisconsin highlights and be like ‘This is the guy I envision you can play like in our system.’ And he started showing me highlights of my games in high school, but he didn’t show me scoring, blocking shots, rebounding or anything like that. He showed the way I’d get excited for other people on our team. Like, the teammate I was and how when I’d make a good play that led to somebody else scoring, how I’d react. I remember that taking me by surprise.
“I wanted to make the most of my basketball career when I was there. I wanted to make Coach happy and make the Wisconsin fans happy and make my family happy. If I worked as hard as I could and enjoyed it as much as I did, I could make something happen. I think I saw things for myself before other people saw it for me.’’
Kaminsky said it helped having redshirt freshman Ethan Happ, a 6-10 power forward, to thump on in practice.
“He definitely pushed me to be better every single day,’’ he said. “It was an actual battle every day in practice.’’
Brown, known for his singing voice as much as his inside game, said the notion that 10 years have gone by since this all happened is “insane.’’
“I can’t believe it,’’ he said.
Brown then offered a timely lesson that puts Wisconsin’s feat of playing in consecutive Final Fours in context.
“The fact that it’s been 10 years, you can see all the teams that have come after you and you see how hard it is,’’ he said of repeating. “Besides UConn, not too many teams have gone back-to-back. Just seeing that makes you appreciate that even more.’’
Since 2015, only the aforementioned Huskies have appeared in consecutive semifinals.
“You knew it was special when you were there,’’ Brown said, “but to see things 10 years later, it’s like, ‘Dang, we really made history.’’’