WISCONSIN BADGERS

UW's Ethan Happ, with a deeper supporting cast and no NBA questions, appears poised for a big senior season

Jeff Potrykus
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Ethan Happ returns for his final season with the Badgers.

CINCINNATI – According to Wisconsin’s roster, Ethan Happ gained two pounds in the offseason and now carries 237 on his 6-foot-10 frame.

Don’t believe it.

The fifth-year senior forward doesn’t look it but he shed a significant amount of weight since UW’s season-ending loss to Michigan State in the 2018 Big Ten tournament. 

“He probably won’t let you know it,” sophomore guard Brad Davison said, “but I think he had the weight of the world on his shoulders last year. 

“I think this year with having more guys who have stepped up into leadership roles and having more guys who can step on the floor and help take some of that pressure off, he can just focus on basketball.”

The 2017-’18 season, which ended without a berth in the NCAA Tournament field for the first time since 1998, was trying for everyone in the UW program. 

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For Happ, the transition from his sophomore to junior season proved to be onerous. 

As a sophomore in 2016-’17, Happ was able to follow the lead of seniors Bronson Koenig, Nigel Hayes, Zak Showalter and Vitto Brown.

As a junior last season, Happ had to become the leader of a young team by deed and word. And anyone who knows Happ understands he is more comfortable leading through his play. 

“You completely changed the deck of cards he was playing with from Years 1 and 2 to Year 3,” UW coach Greg Gard said. “You took his cast of characters away from him. He had played a lot of basketball with those four seniors. 

“It just took time to get that experience.”

Season-ending injuries to D’Mitrik Trice and Kobe King stripped the team of two potential scoring threats and made it easier for opponents to send waves of defenders at Happ.

The opener last week against Coppin State showed UW should be able to surround Happ with shooters any night this season. 

Trice hit 5 of 9 three-pointers and 7 of 13 shots overall; Brevin Pritzl hit 4 of 7 three-pointers; and Nate Reuvers hit 2 of 5 three-pointers in an 85-63 victory. 

Happ was a willing passer and tallied 12 assists as part of his triple-double. 

“He is here for one more year and he wants to do everything he can to get us to that Wisconsin standard of excellence," Davison said, "which is where we’ve been and where we’re going to go. 

“All he has to do is worry about basketball now. He can play the game he knows he can play, that we all know he can play.”

Game No. 2 should provide a more demanding test when UW (1-0) plays host Xavier (2-0) at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Musketeers have won 41 consecutive nonconference home games.

Anyone who has watched Happ interact with his teammates this season has noticed a more relaxed player and leader. 

“He should be comfortable in the fact that there are more pieces around him,” UW assistant Howard Moore said. “Guys that were young a year ago have experience. They got thrown into the fire. It is a good position to be in. 

“Now he just has to go out and just play. Not worry about all the other stuff. Just play and enjoy it. …

“I like the fact he feels pretty good about who he is and he feels good that he is back with his team."

Happ pondered turning pro after last season but after working out for several teams and gathering feedback on his game, he chose to return to UW. 

What he gained during that process should help his overall game and, by extension, the team.

“I think he is really appreciative of what he has here and his experiences here,” Gard said. “It obviously opens your eyes when you go through that. 

“I thought all along it was going to be a win-win situation. If he was in a position where he wanted to be in the draft, he stays in the draft. If not, he can use those experiences to come back and help make himself a better player and also help make our younger guys more astute about what goes on at that level.”

Either way, Happ doesn’t have to worry this season about whether to turn pro early. This season will be his last in college and he appears to be prepared to savor every game, every practice. 

“There was a pit all offseason in my stomach,” Happ acknowledged. “Not making the NCAA tournament was tough, to say the least. 

“To have such a poor season that we had and to have that record we had and to see that record when people were talking about our team is tough to swallow.”

Happ is determined to avoid a repeat and along the way he should move up in the UW record book.

If he stays healthy, Happ could finish in the top three in program history in points, rebounds, blocks, field-goal percentage and games started. He already is No. 3 in steals and offensive rebounds.

In three seasons at UW, he has averaged 14.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 96 games. He was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2015-'16.

“Twenty years from now when I’m talking to my kids,” he said, “I can say: ‘Dad was pretty good.’

“But right now it has no bearing on my play at all.”

Those are the words of a focused and relaxed player who knows that in his final season his team should be good enough to challenge any team on the schedule.