MILWAUKEE — Three days after Wisconsin suffered a disheartening 57-46 loss against Ole Miss in the NCAA tournament, Badgers guard Zak Showalter was back in the gym putting up shots. Unlike some of his teammates who played substantial minutes, he didn't see much reason to take an extended break.
Showalter, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound freshman, did not play against Ole Miss -- nor did he play in any of Wisconsin's three Big Ten tournament games. In fact, over the team's final 22 games, he appeared in 10 of them and played a total of 22 minutes.
Despite playing sparingly, Showalter was determined to begin refining his skills almost immediately.
"Some guys were banged up more," Showalter said Thursday night before the Wisconsin Sports Awards, where he was nominated for boys high school player of the year. His Badgers teammate, Sam Dekker, won the award, edging Showalter and future Marquette player Duane Wilson.
"Ben (Brust) is just getting back into it. He had to take that time off, which is necessary when you play that much. I wasn't really too banged up, so I just got right back to where I left off."
Showalter made his mark during his first season as a hustler who would hound a player on defense, though he lacked a consistent shot on offense and sometimes struggled with his ballhandling. Showalter said Badgers coach Bo Ryan told him to work on both facets during an end-of-season meeting.
"He was like, 'Whatever you earn, you earn,' " Showalter said. "Anything can happen next year. It's going to be six guards, seven guards that can play. Down the road, it's going to be great for us. It'll be fun."
This past season, Showalter spent the year on the fringe of playing time as the Badgers' fourth guard behind Brust, Traevon Jackson and George Marshall. And he recognizes the challenge of cracking the rotation won't be any easier next season when point guard Josh Gasser returns from an ACL injury. With four-star recruit Bronson Koenig joining the fold, it could potentially push Showalter even further down the depth chart.
Showalter likely would have redshirted this past season had it not been for Gasser's injury and hinted at the prospect of using a redshirt in the future, although plenty remains unknown six months before official practices began.
"You see what's in front of you," he said. "Josh and Ben and Sammy and those guys. It's a possibility for sure. And there's nothing wrong with taking a year and getting another year to play. We'll see. There's a lot of things that can happen."
During the early season, Showalter did show flashes of the player he's capable of being. He played a career-high 23 minutes against Green Bay and scored a season-best eight points with three assists. But the minutes decreased when Ryan whittled his rotation once Big Ten play began. For the season, Showalter appeared in 22 games and averaged 1.7 points with 1.0 rebounds.
The Wisconsin Sports Awards, which honored Showalter for his high school performance, reminded him how far he is from those days, when he averaged 22.0 points, 5.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds in leading Germantown to a state title as a senior.
"College is a lot different than high school basketball," Showalter said. "I've got a lot to learn obviously that I didn't realize when I first came out of high school because your confidence and everything is sky high. But it's definitely a learning experience, and I'm ready for the future."
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