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Bohannon shrugs off insults, continues to improve and impress

Rob Schultz  —  3/21/2008 4:35 am

OMAHA, Neb. -- Somebody is always trying to show up Jason Bohannon.

When he committed to play for the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team, some fans had the audacity to wish Wauwatosa East's Jerry Smith had committed instead.

His name is dirt in Iowa even though Bohannon was a prep superstar at Linn-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa, and his dad, Gordy, was a star quarterback for Hayden Fry and the Hawkeyes.

The hatred Iowans have for Bohannon for spurning former coach Steve Alford and the Hawkeyes goes beyond the intense booing and sneering aimed at his direction when the Badgers play at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. They even boo his younger brothers Zach and Matt, both of whom played for Linn-Mar this year.

"People will boo them for me going to Wisconsin. Stuff like that," shrugged Bohannon.

But the ultimate insult came last Saturday afternoon in the final minutes of Wisconsin's 65-63 win over Michigan State in a Big Ten Conference tournament semifinal game at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

On six straight possessions with the game on the line, the Spartans gave the ball to freshman guard Kalin Lucas and spread out on the court so he could go to work and score on Bohannon. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was so positive Lucas could get the best of Bohannon that he called three timeouts during that streak to set up a play specifically for Lucas.

Bohannon did the same thing to Lucas and the Spartans that he did to any Wisconsin fans who second-guessed his recruitment, those Iowans who only wish him the worst or anybody else who dares to dis him.

The steely-eyed 6-foot-2 sophomore guard got the last word. The talented Lucas scored five points on those first three possessions, but got zip in his last three as Bohannon forced two misses and helped force the turnover that won the Badgers the game.

That's why Bohannon is the ultimate sixth man: He always finishes what he doesn't start, which is yet another important reason why the Badgers are heading to the NCAA tournament as optimistic as any year of their existence.

"He's always been a kid with a lot of pride," said UW assistant coach Gary Close as the third-seeded Badgers (29-4) prepared to play No. 14 seed Cal State-Fullerton (24-8) in a first-round NCAA tournament game here tonight. "That's why he's a player. He keeps working and improving and takes pride in what he's doing."

Continuing to improve

What's amazing about Bohannon's rapid development this season is that the biggest plays he has made so far in his career with the Badgers are on the defensive end. But they don't come close to overshadowing what he can do with the ball as the Badgers' third guard behind senior Michael Flowers and fellow sophomore Trevon Hughes.

Bohannon, who was named the Big Ten's sixth man of the year last week, can be a defender's nightmare because he has that special assassin's eye from beyond the 3-point stripe and an underrated ability to find a lane and throw up one of those nifty runners over a bigger defender.

The free-throw line is a special spot for him, too. He led the Big Ten by making 95.7 percent of his free throws (45-of-47) and made his last 39 heading into the postseason, which was a school record. He was exhausted defending Lucas and missed two late ones against Michigan State, but teammate Joe Krabbenhoft said all that did was fool the next opponent into thinking Bohannon will miss again late in a close game.

"You have to remember, he has no conscience," said Krabbenhoft.

Bohannon doesn't waver between home and the road, either. Bohannon's overall averages include 8.1 points per game while making 44.1 percent of his shots overall and 40.2 of his 3-pointers. At home this season, he averaged 7.4 points while making 43.2 percent of his shots overall and 35.4 percent of his 3s. On the road, he averaged 9.3 points and made 45.6 percent of his shots overall and 45.7 percent of his 3s.

But it's his growing off-the-ball game that could complete the Bohannon puzzle and turn him into one of the Big Ten's best all-around guards. This is the area where Bohannon is learning the most from watching tapes of former Wisconsin star Kirk Penney.

"He did a great job of seeing when a guy went under a screen, to pop out real quick and shoot it; or if a guy is trailing him, to curl off a screen," Bohannon said. "Those little things, if you can pick them up as quickly as Kirk Penney does, you'll get a lot more free, open shots."

'The right decision'

Bohannon said he feels no pressure to try to keep up with teammate Hughes and Smith, who is one of the leading scorers this year for Louisville. They were all between their junior and senior years in high school when Wisconsin dangled two scholarships in front of the three guards and said they'd go to the first two to commit.

Bohannon was the first to commit while Hughes, who played at St. John's Northwestern Academy in Delafield, followed at about the same time Smith was committing to Louisville. Bohannon said he keeps up with Smith's career.

"He's doing some great things at Louisville. That was the right decision for him and this is the right decision for me. I think we're both happy where we are and what we're doing as individuals," Bohannon said.

The Badgers are thrilled with Hughes and Bohannon, both of whom will solidify Wisconsin's guard corps for the next two seasons and should both graduate as 1,000-plus scorers.

"I think Jason's going to get better. He's still young," said Close. "He's from a winning program, he won a lot of games there, we knew he was going to be a very good team player. We knew he was the type of kid we want; who will play good team basketball, will be fundamentally sound and improve and work hard, do the work in the classroom and off the court. He's done all of that and more."

Tough minded

Meantime, Bohannon is passing along what he knows to his three younger brothers that include Jordan, who is in the fourth grade. "He's playing, too. He's going all over the place. He's doing national stuff. He's just a big Badger fan right now," said Bohannon.

Zach is a 6-7 forward who just finished his junior season and is getting interest from some colleges while Matt is a freshman who helped Linn-Mar to a third-place finish in the Iowa state tournament.

Bohannon is proud that they are following in his footsteps and don't let anybody show them up, either. "They are all tough kids," he said. "They learn to play through it and they are really tough minded. That's the first step to being a good basketball player."

As Bohannon has proven several times already this season, it's also one of the biggest steps.

Rob Schultz  —  3/21/2008 4:35 am