DETROIT — Everybody wants to be Jason Bohannon.

Or, at least, it seems like everybody thinks they can be another Bohannon.

University of Wisconsin assistant men's basketball coach Greg Gard has the visual evidence to prove it.

"We definitely get a lot of DVDs and highlight films of players that want to either walk on or (have us) take a look at them," Gard said Thursday. "First, it was the next Clayton Hanson. Now, it's the next J-Bo."

Hanson is a former Reedsburg athlete who walked on at UW and eventually earned a scholarship. His modest physical skills inspired high school players to believe they could do the same thing, if only given a chance.

Now, along comes Bohannon, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound sophomore, who earned a scholarship out of Marion, Iowa. Right now, there probably are thousands of high school players in Wisconsin who wonder what the difference is between them and Bohannon, who has an every-man appeal for the Badgers.

"There's a lot of people that size, that body figure, that even look like him," UW junior Joe Krabbenhoft said. "No one knows the countless hours in the gym he's put in the last 10 years.

"It takes a lot more than to look, walk and talk like Jason to be like him. It takes hard work, dedication and more God-given ability than people give him credit for."

Bohannon arrived in Madison with a nice, stationary shooting stroke and a high basketball IQ. But it takes more than that to make it in the Big Ten Conference.

He had to learn how to get his shot off, what it took to play without the ball and the strength needed to compete at both ends of the floor.

He's accomplished all of that this season, averaging 8.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game off the bench, while being named the conference's Sixth Man of the Year.

"Offensively, he's become much more than just a catch-and-shoot player," Gard said.

"He understands how to move off screens, movement away from the ball, how to use his teammates to get open, how his hard cuts can get other teammates open and is really starting to develop into a more all-around offensive player."

Bohannon has come even further on defense, where he was once considered a liability. His deficiencies were highlighted in the loss to UNLV in last year's NCAA tournament, when he got exposed in some one-on-one matchups.

Bohannon handled those shortcomings like he does everything else: He worked to make himself better.

"I knew I wouldn't be the biggest or fastest," he said. "It's something to work at, you can continue to get better at it. Each and every day, if you get better just a little bit, it's going to be miles and miles better a couple years down the road."

Several teams have tried to isolate Bohannon and attack him defensively, including Michigan State on several possessions late in its loss at the Kohl Center.

But Bohannon has been up to the challenge.

"You look back to the UNLV game last year where he kind of got isolated and gave up some easy shots," Gard said.

"This year, he's been put on that island again, not just by Michigan State but by other teams throughout the year. He's held his own. That's where you really see the experience and his growth as a player."

Even though Bohannon is a player who seems close to maximizing his physical skills, he won't put a ceiling on how good he can get.

"I don't know what my potential will be or how much better I can get, but I'll try to get as good as I can be," he said.

And for all those Bohannon wanna-bes, Krabbenhoft added a word of caution, that they might be underestimating his physical talents.

"I've seen him go up and throw one down in traffic," Krabbenhoft said. "I've seen him cross people over. I've seen him beat people to balls that he probably shouldn't.

"A lot of it has to do with desire. He should get more credit — he's a very modest person — because that kid's a heck of an athlete."