Lucas at Large: Wahl’s debut showcases he can hang
November 06, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas, Varsity Magazine
True freshman earns first minutes in OT loss to Saint Mary’s
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — As soon as Tyler Wahl walked into the Sanford Pentagon, a classic 1950s-60s throwback gymnasium with a dark hardwood floor and a "Hoosiers" intimacy, he felt at home even though he had never before set foot on Heritage Court, a 3,250-seat venue.
"It's kind of like the Civic Center," he said with a shy grin. "I've got good memories."
The Pentagon is so unique, there aren't many matches. But from Wahl's reference point, there are some old school similarities with the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, Minnesota where his Lakeville North team whipped John Marshall High School in the Class 4A sectional finals last March.
It was Lakeville's seventh straight win over John Marshall in the title game and eighth consecutive trip to the state tournament. Good memories, indeed. As the only true freshman on the Wisconsin roster, the 18-year-old Wahl is now in the process of making new memories.
On Tuesday night, he made his college debut here in the Badgers' 65-63 overtime loss to Saint Mary's. The 6-foot-7, 214-pound Wahl (who coincidentally wears the same No. 5 as highly-touted freshman quarterback Graham Mertz) played a little over 12 minutes.
Wahl's only basket came with 59 seconds left in the first half and fueled a 14-5 UW run after the Gaels had outscored the Badgers 18-1 to take a 10-point lead, 30-20.
"It was fun, it was a good environment," Wahl said afterward. "I learned that we could play with them — a highly-ranked team that is expected to do good things. We were right there with them."
On Tuesday afternoon, six hours before tipoff, Wahl got a taste of the Wisconsin basketball culture when the team visited a children's hospital in Sioux Falls. UW coach Greg Gard was asked if one or two players could make the visit. Gard brought everybody, including the coaching and support staff.
Thank you again to @BadgerMBB for visiting our patients at the Sanford Children's Hospital in #SiouxFalls. You made their day. #SanfordSports
— SanfordHealth (@SanfordHealth) Nov. 6, 2019
"I think it's incredible — it puts everything into perspective," said junior guard Brad Davison. "We're not necessarily from here, but we're all communities in one way or another and whenever you get a chance to do something as a team and you can give back to a community, you do it."
Because this is essentially a brave new Badger world for Wahl, Davison advised him, "Follow our lead and just enjoy it. Soak it in. Enjoy the moments with your teammates. Also enjoy the interactions we're going to have at the hospital. There's power about being fully present in the moment.
"During the season, things can get going kind of fast; it can become hectic. When we can take time out of our day, especially on a game day, it's extremely powerful and the thing to do when you have the opportunity to give back and interact with kids with different backgrounds and circumstances."
Wahl was moved by the experience.
"That was really awesome," he said, "we get the opportunity to do those kinds of things."
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Through their evaluation of Nate Reuvers — a four-star prospect at Lakeville North where he was a finalist for Minnesota's Mr. Basketball as a senior — the Badgers got an eyeful of his teammate and another four-star, Wahl. The principle recruiting contact was assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft.
"Tyler was all over the place making plays and doing everything on the basketball floor," Krabbenhoft observed. "He definitely stood out at a young age. He was a little raw and wild at times. But he was a guy that we said, 'We'd better keep an eye on him.'"
On what he liked the most about Wahl's demeanor, Krabbenhoft noted, "It was how hard he played. He plays the game the right way. It's 100 percent all the time. He has a lot of the characteristics that we've used to describe Brad Davison, Zak Showalter and Josh Gasser. He's kind of in that mold."
Sounded like he was describing himself as a player. "Maybe," he said. "He's tough. He was taking charges in high school games and AAU games. So, there is that toughness factor. He'll stick his nose in there. He's never bashful or shy about mixing it up. He's always in the middle of scrums."
Wahl took an immediate liking to Krabbenhoft during the recruiting process. "He was really a nice person to talk with, a genuine person who cared about what was going on in my life away from basketball," Wahl recalled, "and that developed our relationship."
Wahl has heard stories about Krabbenhoft's legendary toughness. "And I'm sure I'll hear more as the season goes on," said Wahl, who was asked if he had been coached up in this area. "Not directly. But if I do something like not crash for offensive rebounds, like not doing something with toughness ..."
He'll hear about it from Krabbenhoft.
During Monday night's practice at the Pentagon, Krabbenhoft heard it — good-natured kidding about his penchant to collect stitches — from his best friend growing up in Sioux Falls (Mitch Begeman) and from a former assistant at Roosevelt High School (Tim Reck) who coached Krabbenhoft in AAU.
"I'll always remember the passion that he had for the game," said Reck, who's now coaching at Washington High in Sioux Falls. "It was just so much fun to go to practice with him. He'd say, 'Coach, I want to get better every day. You can be on me all you want. I just want to get better.'
"I remember Joe played in the district championship game with a broken foot and scored 30 some points. He knew his foot was sore, but we didn't know it was broken."
Reck knew all along that Krabbenhoft would join the coaching fraternity once his playing days were over. "He was coaching our team when he was on the floor," he said. "As a sophomore, he played on varsity and he was our point guard. He ran the show. He was awesome."
Begeman went to a rival high school (O'Gorman), but is now the Roosevelt head coach.
"Joe just did everything for his team," he said.
Now Krabbenhoft is saying the same about Wahl as far as his potential to do it all.
He's not the only one saying those things, either.
"Tyler is an unusual freshman," suggested UW assistant Alando Tucker. "This kid has all the smarts and determination and he has no fear. If I came in here and I didn't know the program and players, I would assume that he's a sophomore or junior. He has patience and he has a will.
"I think of myself coming in as a freshman and being able to pick up the system quick and it translated to me being able to play at an early age in my career. I see similar things in him. He's not afraid to try things. He's not afraid to do things."
Tucker spoke of the learning curve and making mistakes which is inevitable for a freshman.
"But," he said, "he doesn't let that mistake affect him or phase him."
Krabbenhoft sees it the same way.
"Rarely do you see him continue to make the same mistakes," he said. "We understand that he's a freshman and he will have freshman moments whether against Saint Mary's or throughout the year. But I would expect his progression of learning to be pretty quick compared to most freshmen."
Wahl took his first step, albeit a baby step, here Tuesday night against a ranked foe.
"I learned I can hang with them," he said. "I can do anything they can do."
