Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.
Issue link: https://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/297366
44 // VARSITY April 17, 2014 T he Badgers were a terrific underdog story in 2013. "But that's definitely gone," Carlini said. "Whenever someone reaches the final four, a surpris- ing team, then the target is on them the next year. "We're definitely going to have higher expecta- tions. People are going to expect that we should win the Big Ten or at least be in the running for it." Sheffield has a different vision on such tags as un- derdogs and favorites. "That's all a mentality," he insisted. "It shouldn't af- fect how you're working. Maybe you're getting more people's better shots. That's okay. That's where you want to be as a program." But he offered some perspective on how much harder it might get this season. "It's easier to move up 150 spots when you're at 200," he said of a team's pecking order or national ranking. "Moving from 200 to 50 is way easier than moving 10 spots at the very top." Such is the challenge for a program attempting to sustain a high level of success. Such is the rarified air that the Badgers are now finding themselves in after a five-year NCAA tournament drought. "More people recognize us around town," Carlini said, "and they'll say, 'Hey, you guys had a great year; great job. We're going to come out and support you next year."' Given their higher profile locally and nationally, Sheffield is cognizant of all the symbolic trappings of success ― along with the traps, like being satisfied with achievement, resting on laurels. "They don't think they are (resting on them), that's the thing," he said. "I don't think coaches ever think that their players are working as hard as they can. That became a strength of ours. "But we think we can work hard- er. We've developed a little bit of our leadership this spring and that's starting to help out. And these guys are getting in the gym on their own, that's also helping out." It doesn't hurt either to have Hick- ey on the Wisconsin coaching staff as a student assistant. "She loves the program," Sheffield said. "She brings another set of eyes and ears and she's got a different per- spective of things. She can help a lot if our players allow her to help." Carlini, for one, welcomes any such instruction or direction. Even though she was only a freshman, albeit the No. 1 recruit in the country, Carlini wasn't shy about taking charge. "I kind of viewed myself as a lead- er even last year," she said, "because as a setter, you can't be a timid pres- ence on the court. You can't let other people do all the talking for you. You have to lead by example and by voice. One of the big things this year is hav- ing trust in my teammates and having "I kind of viewed myself as a leader even last year," Carlini said, "because as a setter, you can't be a timid pres- ence on the court. You can't let other people do all the talking for you." JACK MCLAUGHLIN