BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Brad Davison's kitchen table has been designated as a construction site for a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle; a 39-inch by 13-inch panoramic view of the Kohl Center during a Red and White Stripe Out against Michigan State, a game the Badgers won on their way to the Final Four.
Gathered around the table with Davison at any given time of the day have been his mom, Cori, and his dad, Jim, in their Maple Grove, Minnesota home. All three have been hunkered down in compliance with coronavirus guidelines that have been in effect.
"We're not shelter in place (in Minnesota), but it has been highly suggested that you leave your house for only groceries or medical reasons," Davison said. "We've been on kind of a lockdown in our household. We're taking it all very seriously and just trying to do our part.
"At first, it was a little crazy for everyone — everyone's life got shaken. We have certain things in our life that were stripped away whether that was our sport, school or job. And it forced us all to slow down and really be present in the moment.
"It forced us to focus on the relationships that are closest to us and we've spent a lot of great time with family. It's definitely a unique set of circumstances. But I have faith that there's going to be a lot of good that comes out of all of this."
Finding a silver lining in a global pandemic isn't easy. But leave it to Davison …
"This has been a huge blessing — the ability to be at home and spend time with my family," he repeated. "A lot of times we get going so fast and looking forward to the next thing and the next thing and the next thing and we don't truly maximize the moments that we have."
Brad Davison and mom Cori at home in Minnesota
Davison's teammate, D'Mitrik Trice, is wired in the same faith-based way.
Sequestered with the bulk of his family in Huber Heights, Ohio (a stay-at-home state), Trice was counting his blessings Sunday with the news that his older brother, Travis Trice, the leading scorer on Michigan State's 2015 Final Four team, may be on his way back to the United States from northern Italy.
After playing last season in France, the 27-year-old Trice signed a contract in mid-January with Germani Brescia, a professional team in the top Italian League. Brescia is a city at the foot of the Alps in the Lombardy region, the epicenter of the COVID-19 breakout in that country.
Trice last played on March 3 and had 18 points in a 93-88 loss to Reyer, a team based in Venice.
"It has been a struggle for him — they weren't sure at first if their season was going to end or if they were going to start back up," D'Mitrik Trice said. "They've been quarantined for the last two to three weeks and he has already been through what we're going through right now.
"We've definitely been worried about him. We all know what Italy has been going through. Honestly, I'm not sure what's going to happen next when he gets back. We've just been continuing to adapt (as a family) by listening to what the experts have to say about how we should handle things."
Davison and Trice have communicated individually and during Badger group chats.
"It's different for everyone," Davison said. "But everyone's life has been affected and kind of shaken in big ways. We've all stayed in touch just knowing everyone is there for each other. Who knows when we will get to see each other next? Hopefully sooner than later."
D'Mitrik Trice and family at home
On Monday, Davison and Trice began taking UW courses online from their respective family's homes in Minnesota and Ohio. Trice is on track to graduate in May and had already prepared himself ("I probably won't be walking") for the inevitable. Commencement exercises have now been canceled.
"With everything online," Trice said, "not being at school is just going to be weird."
After this semester, Davison will be 12 credits shy of his degree.
His Monday started with a three-hour lecture in labor relations.
"That's definitely going to take some getting used to," he said, "acclimating to online."
But as a team, they know that they've been through far worse overcoming all levels of adversity.
"We'll make the most of it," Davison promised, "and we'll get through it."
• • • •
Jigsaw puzzles have been a Davison family tradition, a bonding staple.
"We always do puzzles over Christmas break — on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day," said Davison, who has been in Maple Grove since the start of spring break on March 13. "We're definitely a puzzle family. It's kind of my mom's thing. We just started puzzle number three (the Kohl Center).
"So, we've been doing puzzles, playing cards and I've been cooking a lot."
Brad Davison and parents - Jim and Cori - are enjoying family-time together by completing puzzles like this Kohl Center showcase.
Davison fancies himself as a grill-master. Not that he can match Cori's tater tot hot dish, his favorite, but he's comfortable in the kitchen. Or at a grill. His go-to is zesty Italian chicken. "The longer you marinate, the better the taste and flavor," he said. "The key is in the marinating process."
Since returning to Maple Grove, 20 miles from Minneapolis, he has moved back into his old bedroom (which will now serve as a de facto classroom). Not much has changed since he left for college save for a poster from the opener against Saint Mary's at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Cori Davison has taken every single trophy, an extensive number, that her son has ever won in football, basketball and baseball and arranged them on shelves covering a full wall. The prize possession in the room is a signed basketball from Kyrie Irving, the former Dukie and NBA All-Star guard.
As a prep senior, Davison met Irving when his elite youth basketball league team played at a national tournament in Brooklyn, New York. "My name got picked out of the hat and he gave me a signed ball," he said, noting the inscription, "The future of the game is yours."
Over the last 10 days, Davison has shot baskets on his own in his backyard.
"I went out there one day and I was playing games in my head," he said. "I was playing in the Big Ten tournament; I was playing in the NCAA tournament. I was just messing around and putting myself in the shoes of being in those games. I pretended all of it and had some fun out there.
"It was good to see the ball go through the hoop again."
Did he keep score? "Won every game," he enthused. "Just like the simulated bracket."
In an attempt to fill some of the March Madness void, ESPN simulated a model for the 2020 tournament by utilizing Joe Lunardi's final brackets and its own Basketball Power Index Metric. The Badgers won the title/simulation beating BYU, Maryland, Duke, Marquette, Liberty and North Texas.
Davison confided that it felt a "little weird" recreating potential postseason matchups on an outdoor sports court while "not really being in the NCAA tournament." Besides the fact it was only 25 degrees the other day in Maple Grove, he also confessed, "The wound is still a little tender."
Trice felt the same way about ESPN's simulation after the Badgers were tabbed as champs.
"It made it even worse," he said, "because we can't do anything about it."
In real time …
Had all the pieces to the puzzle fallen in place for the Badgers, Davison and Trice and their teammates would be preparing this week for the Sweet 16. Instead, they've been resigned to viewing re-runs of classic UW post-season games on the Big Ten Network or CBS.
"It's kind of heartbreaking," Trice said, "we're not experiencing that kind of stuff right now."
But his family has helped him keep his mind off such things (in addition to the imminent return of his brother from Italy). His folks have been reassuring, he pointed out, during these very troubling times. Both Travis Sr. and Julie Trice have been working out of their home in Huber Heights.
"I've been listening to my parents a lot and what they have to say and also watching some of the news when it's on," said D'Mitrik, a role model for his younger siblings. "Luckily, I've got a big family. And it has been good to have everyone at home at the same time and do things together."
To occupy his days, Trice has been completing a reading assignment for the resumption of his Ed Psych class, watching movies and playing video games. To make the latter more competitive, he came up with his own set of rules. "If you lose," he said, "you have to do pushups or sit-ups."
With the NBA suspending operations, there's uncertainty surrounding the league calendar, specifically on whether the draft will be pushed back from June 25. The NCAA allows college players to take part in the draft process without losing their eligibility as long as they don't hire an agent.
"People are trying to figure out what they want to do next," said Trice, who will turn 24 on May 2 and relies heavily on his dad, a successful prep coach, for advice on such basketball matters. "I think it would be a great opportunity not only for me but for anyone to test the waters and get feedback.
"It's not necessarily to come out, but it's to see what pro teams are saying about you and what you need to work on to get better."
For now, Trice and Davison, both of whom reached the 1,000-point career plateau this season, are working on their patience until they can work together as a team again.
"We all love being around each other," Davison said. "We all love playing for the UW. We all love the campus. People may only see the basketball part to it. But there's so much more to being a student-athlete there. The Union Terrace. State Street. Beach volleyball and golf in the summer.
"There are more memories than just basketball and we hope to get back as soon as we can."
There's also the sense of unfinished business thanks to that eight-game winning streak.
Assured Davison, "We've got a lot more to look forward to."
