Badgers honor Black History Month
MADISON – Wisconsin’s players are set to debut new warm-up tops when the Badgers host Indiana at noon Sunday.
These aren’t ordinary T-shirts.
With senior Nigel Hayes as the catalyst, the players will be wearing shirts with the names of 28 prominent individuals in black history.
The players will wear the shirts during each game this month, which is Black History Month.
“It is a pretty tight-knit group,” UW associate head coach Lamont Paris said, “but that is how you get to another level by just learning things about guys and what is important to them.”
Each of the team’s 17 players and all four coaches were given the task of selecting one name for the shirts.
Hayes then added seven more names to push the total to 28, one for each day of the month.
“There were some people that had to be on the list,” Hayes said. “It couldn’t be a list without them.”
Hayes chose Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican political leader who fought for the Black nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements.
RELATED: Badgers guard Iverson continues to flash potential
RELATED: Happ ready to battleIndiana's Bryant
Paris chose Frederic Douglass, a social reformer, abolitionist and statesman.
According to Paris, he is related to Douglass on his mother’s side.
“I have never done one of those genealogy things,” Paris said. “But on my mom’s side and family reunions they highlight that. Everybody makes a shirt for the family reunion.
“It is a source of pride, for sure, when you think about a person who has risked their life and their family and everything for the freedom of not only themselves but for others for years to come.
“I think that is why the shirts were a great idea. It is obviously not all-encompassing. There are plenty of people that aided the cause.”
Senior guard Bronson Koenig’s choice came down to two musicians, Bob Marley and Jimmy Hendrix.
“Hendri is actually part native American,” Koenig said. “But I just like Bob Marley because I’ve always listened to him ever since I was young and I love reggae.
“And I did a lot of reports on him during school. I was just fascinated with him.”
Sophomore forward Charlie Thomas is eager to don the new threads.
“It is just another thing to put awareness out there for the month,” he said. “I think it is good for us. I know a lot of the guys appreciate letting things be known about black history. We just want to show our appreciation for what our fellow African Americans have done.”
Which name did Thomas choose?
“What name did I pick?” he asked. “You’ll see on Sunday. I’m going to keep that classified.”
Jeff Potrykus can be reached at jpotrykus@journalsentinel.com or twitter.com/jaypo1961.