Teammates, Neighbors and Best Friends
January 14, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas, Varsity Magazine
On the court, it’s all hustle. Off the court, hanging out as neighbors builds even stronger relationships
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — A campus high-rise apartment, not far from the Kohl Center, has become a unifying agent for a diverse pool of players who have found common ground as roommates and neighbors. After a good practice or bad — after a satisfying win (NC State) or disappointing loss (Minnesota) — their doors are not only open to each other, but to teammates in neighboring buildings and to the freshmen in the dorms.
"I definitely think it has brought the team closer together — more so than last year with myself living on my own in a separate complex and other guys living away from the team," said Ethan Happ, a fifth-year senior. "It's nice when you're done with practice or a game and you walk home with a couple of teammates and everyone is going in the same direction to get something to eat."
Whether it's Brad Davison preparing stir fry, pasta or his specialty walleye for roomies D'Mitrik Trice and Aleem Ford in their fourth-floor apartment; or Walt McGrory pan-frying steak and eggs for Nate Reuvers on the seventh floor, the food options are varied, matching the personalities.
"I'm a culinary artist," claimed McGrory, whose prized possessions are non-stick pans. To which Davison countered that McGrory twice set off smoke alarms with his cooking the summer before their freshman year, adding, "He'll take his favorite foods, mash them together and take a picture of it."
Happ still lives on his own but enjoys being in the same building with his teammates. "I'll go up to Mike and Trevor's room a good amount," he said of his 11th floor visits to Michael Ballard and Trevor Anderson, who share a unit with Kobe King and Owen Hamilton. "I'm kind of close to Meech (Trice), too, so I'll go up to Meech, Brad and Aleem's room. And they'll come down to mine sometimes."
By the sounds of it, the place to be is 11th floor where Ballard, Anderson, Hamilton and King hold court with a fifth roommate, Colin, a non-basketball playing friend of King's. "We are definitely the loudest room by far," said Ballard. "Guys just like coming in to basically get entertainment because we're always goofing around in there or arguing about silly things."
That was confirmed by McGrory ("I'll usually find them yelling at each other playing Madden or Call of Duty or just arguing about something") and Davison ("I'd say they have some characters in that apartment. It's definitely the most entertaining room because it has very entertaining people.").
More floor space is conducive to bigger get-togethers. "We have four bedrooms, so we have the biggest living room; we have three couches," King said.
One of the attractions to their apartment is a putting mat.
"Most of the time when I walk out in the main room," Ballard said, "someone is usually putting."
Most likely, that would be King. Asked what would be the one thing that he would grab if the fire alarm went off — this was posed only as a hypothetical and not laying blame on McGrory's doorstep — King responded, "Definitely my golf clubs. I'd leave my phone. Golf clubs over phone."
His clubs are in a front closet.
McGrory had a different response to the same question.
"I would take my pans for cooking," he said. "I wouldn't want to lose them."
And he wasn't just blowing smoke.
• • • •
"Our better teams have always had guys who, by and large, have all been together, if not roommates in the same apartment complex," said Wisconsin coach Greg Gard. "That off-court time in terms of learning about each other and who they are is invaluable.
"You look at the older guys who have graduated and moved on and they are in each other's weddings; they're always getting together on alumni day. That bond is important."
As a freshman, Davison didn't always feel that connectiveness and bond.
"I was in the dorm with Kobe," he said, "and all the upperclassmen lived in different apartments, whether it was with a teammate or not. Some guys lived with people on the team. Some lived by themselves all over campus. It was tough for us to ever spend time together as a unit and a group outside of the Kohl Center. But that's kind of business time. There wasn't a lot of social time as a whole team."
Davison's two older sisters played basketball at Northern Iowa.
"They told me how much time they spent with their team outside of basketball," he said. "I didn't think we did that a lot and that kind of surprised me. It was something that I talked to Coach Gard about. I thought it would be really cool to get everyone to live together. After practices during the summer or season, or after games, we could all go back to the same spot."
"In the apartment, we're all friends, we're brothers...The closer a team is, the better that team is." Hustling on the court Hanging off the court This year's Badgers are building even stronger relationships as roommates and neighbors 🆕 http://go.wisc.edu/varsity-9-18
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) January 11, 2019
Every apartment is the same in one respect. Dishes will generally pile up. Ballard contended Anderson will go so far as to leave post-it notes on the refrigerator as proof that he has picked up and cleaned his. But it's usually challenged. "I'm not the cleanest," King said. "But Trevor is the messiest."
Who's the tidier roommate between the two Minnesotans — McGrory and Reuvers? "His mom," McGrory confessed without hesitation. It's a pretty common refrain. "She'll be here for every home game and she'll clean up the apartment. Neither of us has to be too neat. She'll pick up for us."
Ah, yes, the comforts of home away from home.
Micah Potter, the Ohio State transfer, has moved into the same apartment building — increasing the number of players who live there to 11. Brevin Pritzl is next door. Living nearby are Charlie Thomas and Khalil Iverson, who are roommates. Besides the upperclassmen, the first-year guys are welcome.
"Our freshmen feel a lot more part of it," Davison said. "Last year, as a freshman, if you were going to hang out with upperclassmen, you'd hang out with a couple of them. But now they can just come here, and they can be with all of us.
"On the basketball court, we can be seen as upperclassmen sometimes.
"In the apartment, we're all friends, we're brothers."
Ballard, a redshirt sophomore, has noticed a difference in the camaraderie. "On a daily basis, I'll see multiple guys on the team around here whether I happen to be leaving or I'm coming in," he said. "The closer a team is, the better that team is. That's true in all sports, that's a universal thing in life. The closer, more cohesive groups outperform people who are more individualized."
Trice cited an example. After losing back-to-back games to Western Kentucky and Minnesota, the Badgers got a win at Penn State on Sunday night. "We might not have the same chemistry or that same bond that we have right now if we were living in separate areas," Trice suggested. "You'd isolate yourself and the communication probably wouldn't be there as much as it is now."
Although an apartment can be a sanctuary, an escape, the players do bring "work" home.
"After every game, we'll go back to the apartment," said King, "and a few guys will come up and we'll just talk about how the game went and the things that we can get better at."
"We do talk about basketball," Davison said. "But we talk about everything else, too."
He likes to review the game the next morning "once everyone settles down and reflects on it."
No subjects are off-limits, either. After games. After practices. Day after. Any day of the week.
"In our apartment, we'll talk about anything," Ballard said. "I'll be sitting in my room and I'll hear Kobe and Trevor yelling at each other — not seriously — about something. And, then, two minutes later, they'll switch the topic and start arguing about something else."
That's true of all the apartments. "We're all pretty much an open book," Davison said.
Is there a correlation between a good teammate and a good roommate?
A definition was in order.
What constitutes a good teammate?
"Someone who's unselfish, who's always trying to help other teammates out," Trice said.
"Someone who's enjoyable to be around and who's always understanding," King said.
"Someone who's there for you on and off the court and holds you accountable," McGrory said.
"Someone you don't consider a teammate first; you consider them a true friend," Ballard said.
"Someone who's supportive and always encouraging, but also knows the balance," Davison said.
The balance, he elaborated, between support and holding each other accountable.
What goes into being a good roommate?
"It's kind of similar to the definition of a good teammate," Davison said. "Not going into cleanliness or anything like that, it's someone when you walk in, and they're smiling, they're talkative, they're interactive and social with you. But it's also someone you can have serious conversations with, whether about basketball, social, life, family. Someone you can connect with on a deeper level as well."
Trice pointed out that, "It's someone who knows what goes on in the room, stays in the room."
"Mainly," Ballard offered, "I would say it's someone you feel comfortable with."
Good teammate? Good roommate? Good record?
"There's definitely a correlation," Trice said.
• • • •
"It's very valuable to have off-court synergy and togetherness — all those things go a long way," said Wisconsin assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft who appeared in 136 games with 70 starts for the Badgers (2006-2009) on teams that went 100-36.
"To put a value on it is really hard, but part of the experience when you become a Badger is the brotherhood and the camaraderie that you build with your teammates."
As an undergrad, Krabbenhoft lived on campus with some fellow players in Dayton House.
"There were three rooms, 10 guys, two four-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom," he recalled. "For the guys who weren't there, it quickly became the spot for breakfast in the morning, after lifts and the postgame hangout. That's where the whole team went."
Krabbenhoft roomed with Greg Stiemsma, Tanner Bronson, Jon Leuer, Jason Bohannon, et al. "The games and the wins and the championships are great memories," Krabbenhoft said. "But when we get together, the things that come up first are the times spent together off the court."
A good teammate? A good roommate? A good record? A life-long experience?
"It correlates, to what extent I don't know for sure, it's hard to measure that," said Krabbenhoft. "But it mattered. It mattered that we all enjoyed being around each other and that we had a common area to hang. And I see that with this group this year, and it's fun to see … it's bigger than basketball … it's bigger than the wins and losses … these are the moments and memories you will cherish forever."
