MADISON, Wis. — The pit stop here was brief, one night to relive memories at Wisconsin's annual postseason basketball banquet. Badgers center Jared Berggren drove up from Chicago for the day to spend time with former teammates and take part in a short Kohl Center ceremony, only to drive back down to the Windy City before his head hit the pillow.
"It's a little bittersweet," Berggren said last week before the event began.
Berggren has a new purpose, and it requires that he focus on his future as a professional basketball player. The time for team bonding in Madison has passed, at least for now. Instead, he trains for an opportunity to fulfill his dream of playing in the NBA. And to achieve that goal, he has signed with Priority Sports, an agency that carries a trainer and strength coach, one that has rented out the gym at the University of Illinois-Chicago for clients.
In other words, there isn't a moment to waste.
In 48 days, Berggren will find out whether all his hard work results in being selected in the NBA Draft. And even it doesn't, his road to a pro career will be far from over.
"I have no idea where I'll end up," Berggren said. "If it ends up taking me overseas, I'm going to make the best of it and try to keep playing as long as I can. As long as it's a good fit and it's something I'm happy doing, which obviously I love playing basketball, I'm going to take this as far as I can."
Berggren, a 6-foot-10, 235-pound center, has a lot to prove to pro personnel if he wants to make an NBA roster. He must demonstrate a consistent outside shot and show the ability to bang down low with the biggest of bodies. As it stands, he may have a difficult time getting drafted.
Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com lists Berggren as the No. 69 prospect in the 2013 NBA Draft, just behind Tennessee State forward Robert Covington and ahead of Notre Dame forward Jack Cooley. Of course, there are only 60 picks in the two-round draft. NBADraft.net, meanwhile, does not list Berggren in its mock draft but has eight other Big Ten players listed.
In the time between now and the draft, Berggren hopes to show teams he can help fill a need on their roster by impressing scouts at individual workouts.
"Obviously, my ability to stretch the floor and knock down outside shots as a big guy is going to be one key for me," he said. "And just showing all the things out of a big guy: rebounding, playing solid defense, blocking some shots, running the floor, trying to showcase my athleticism a little bit and just show them I'm willing to work and do whatever I can to help the team out."
While at Wisconsin, Berggren developed into one of the most athletic big men in the Big Ten. As a senior, he averaged 11.0 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. He also broke the school record for career (144) and single-season blocks (73). Berggren shot 47.1 percent from the field but just 25.3 percent on 3-point attempts.
In April, Berggren participated in the Portsmouth Invitational, which featured 64 of the nation's top college basketball players on eight teams over a four-day tournament. And Berggren held his own during the wide-open format, a drastically different setup from Wisconsin's methodical system.
In three games, Berggren averaged 29.3 minutes, 7.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks. He saved his best game for last, when he tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds. Berggren also committed just one turnover the entire tournament.
"I feel like I played all right," he said. "Obviously, it's a little different. You throw a team together, eight guys that have never really played together, just kind of an open system. There's no real set organized anything going on. It's just kind of up and down, show them what you're capable of.
"Obviously, everyone is looking for their shot. So it's a little different there. I thought I was able to show some good things. I shot the ball all right, blocked some shots, got some rebounds, just tried to show what I'm capable of outside of this system. I thought I did a decent job of that."
Berggren's next stop in Madison will be brief as well. A personal finance major, he must take the final for his accounting business taxation class in a couple of weeks. He has been filing the rest of his homework online while he trains.
Then, Berggren's focus will turn back to the task at hand: making a living as a basketball player for however long he can, wherever he can.
"There's a lot of unknowns in the next couple months for me," he said. "I'm just taking it day by day and trying to get better every single day and making the best of this opportunity."
Follow Jesse Temple on Twitter.
