Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.
Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/54973
MEN'S BASKETBALL "When we stop at a gas station,'' Bruesewitz said, "every guy has their own quirky thing.'' Bruesewitz is a fan of peanut butter M & M's. Taylor has a liking for Trolli Sour Gummy Worms. "Mike and Jordan have their routines — their go-to (candies),'' Berggren said. Skittles is high on almost everyone's list, except ... "Berg (Berggren) usually doesn't eat candy because that's just how he is,'' Bruesewitz said. After pausing, Bruesewitz teased, "That's because he's an 80-year-old man.'' Smith has made the trip with Bruesewitz more than once. "I don't like snacking that much in the car,'' he confessed. But he enjoys the camaraderie. In late December, he rode home with Taylor. "We were singing Christmas carols,'' Smith said. "Me, Jordan and his dad.'' In sum, they are a family — the Gopher imports — within the Badger family. "We kind of have a little pipeline,'' Bruesewitz said. Each Minnesotan has established his own identity within the framework of the program and retained that individuality while committing to the greater whole as teammates. Addressing the puzzle, UW associate head coach Greg Gard, the principle recruiter in the state of Minnesota, acknowledged, "It's been piece by piece and all of them have been the right fit.'' Going into Thursday night's game at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, the results have been personally fulfilling for Taylor, a senior; Berggren, a redshirt junior; and Bruesewitz, a junior. Each player has started all 24 games this season for the Badgers. "Everyone who has come here from Minnesota'' Gard said, "has had success.'' "One thing that I learned is that the high school coaches in the state of Minnesota knew about Coach Ryan and really respected what we did at Platteville,'' UW associate head coach Greg Gard said. * * * Kammron Taylor, no relation to Jordan Tay- lor, helped open the door for the others. Beyond taking over as a two-year starter — after contrib- uting as a sixth man — he made big shots in big games. "He was the first one that really decided to venture here,'' Gard said of Kammron Taylor, who prepped at Minneapolis North and ac- counted for 1,223 points in 119 games during his UW career (2003-07). 28 » VARSITY FEBRUARY 9, 2012 Gard said the groundwork for Kammron Tay- lor — and Stillwater's Kevin Gullikson who fol- lowed Taylor — can actually be traced all the way back to Bo Ryan's four national championships at UW-Platteville. "One thing that I learned is that the high school coaches in the state of Minnesota knew about Coach Ryan and really respected what we did at Platteville,'' Gard said. "Coaches told me that they used to drive to