MIKE LUCAS Senior Writer

BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. — Some college basketball recruiters began to take notice of the rail-thin high school prospect after a growth spurt of nearly 10 inches and 70 pounds over a two-year stretch.

Jon Leuer was still more of a regional curiosity until his game started to blossom and he put together a string of breakout performances on the 2006 AAU spring and summer circuit.

In late April, he opened eyes in Texas at a Houston tournament while playing for the Minnesota Magic Elite, which featured top prep talent like Cole Aldrich, Al Nolen and Blake Hoffarber.

In early May, Leuer turned heads at an Invitational tourney in Lawrence, Kansas. All of a sudden, he heard from the Jayhawks along with Virginia, Purdue, West Virginia, Vanderbilt and North Carolina.

Notre Dame, Minnesota, Iowa, Iowa State, Indiana, Louisville and Wisconsin had already showed some degree of interest in Leuer who averaged 20 points as a junior at Orono (Minn.) High School.

In late July, UW assistant Greg Gard arranged for head coach Bo Ryan to personally observe the skinny 6-foot-10 Leuer compete against some of his more celebrated AAU peers in a Las Vegas event.

"It was the fastest evaluation I may have ever seen a coach make," Gard said. "Bo had watched him backpedal up the floor once and he said, 'I'll take him.' He hadn't even touched the ball yet."

Minnesota was Gard's recruiting turf, so he was aware of Leuer's upside. But it was his footwork that closed the deal for Ryan who offered a scholarship in August. Leuer committed in September.

"I guess they have the eye for that stuff," said Leuer, laughing at his recollection of that story and how he was evaluated and/or discovered, if you will, which Ryan and Gard later confirmed to him.

"It's actually kind of interesting because I did a little scouting for San Antonio (the Spurs) this year," noted Leuer who played eight NBA seasons (377 games) with five different teams.

"Now that you mention that (Ryan focusing on his agility), it's funny because when you break down film on a college guy, you're looking at every little detail. Stuff like that can jump out at you.

• • • •

In making the jump from the Orono Spartans and Minnesota Magic to Wisconsin as a freshman, Leuer's shooting stroke was like his backpedal — fluid and practically effortless — in his first Big Ten game.

During a 70-54 win at Michigan, Leuer came off the bench and scored 25 points in 24 minutes. He converted eight of nine shots from the field, including 5-of-5 from beyond the 3-point arc.

It was the most points scored by a freshman in his first conference game in school history. By comparison, Alando Tucker had 15, Devin Harris 14 and Rashard Griffith 13 in their league debuts.

"It was kind of the demise of John Beilein's 1-3-1 defense," Gard remembered of Leuer's long-range marksmanship that night in Ann Arbor, "because he banged in so many 3's from the corner."

Stuff like that can jump out at you.

"I thought, 'Hey, this is easy. I might be a one-and-done guy here,'" Leuer recalled.

It was all short-lived.

"Within a few weeks, I was making mistakes defensively and I went into a shooting slump," said Leuer, who scored only 16 points over the final 20 games combined that season.

"I'll never forget, I didn't play much at Illinois (in February). I was essentially benched for the first time in my life. You learn a lot about yourself when you go from one extreme like that to another.

"And I just remember telling myself, 'Okay, coach Ryan is telling me right now that I'm not good enough to be on the floor. I'm just going to get so good that he can't take me off the floor.'"

The epiphany was Leuer's motivation to improve each off-season.

"It's just that mentality of not accepting somebody challenging me and telling me I'm not good enough,"' he reiterated. "I'm going to prove that I am.

"In today's college basketball landscape with so many people transferring, there's something to be said about sticking it out and figuring it out … You can learn a lot about yourself.

"That's one moment I'll never forget (the benching). You look back on your journey and you're grateful for that because it proved to you that you could overcome stuff like that."

Recently, Leuer's journey reached another stage and plateau when Wisconsin director of athletics Barry Alvarez called this spring and informed him that he was going into the UW Athletic Hall of Fame.

"It was pretty cool because I got to personally thank him for everything he did during his time at Wisconsin," Leuer said, "and tell him how appreciative I was of our paths crossing.

"It doesn't get any better than that — hearing that you're in the Wisconsin Hall of Fame from a legend like Barry Alvarez. At first, I was actually surprised."

Leuer had no idea that he was even up for nomination.

"I feel that made me even more grateful. It took me back to a lot of memories being at Wisconsin and how special that place is and all the relationships that I had there.

"From my freshman year — from staying in the dorms and just being a wild-eyed freshman uncertain about how things are going to go — to my progression from freshman to senior.

"There was a lot of growth and maturity that happened over those four years, on and off the court. To hear now you're going to be in the Hall of Fame … I was just full of gratitude.

"I called my family right after finding out and I got to share that news with them. It was emotional for sure because they were such a big part of it as well. I was just thrilled."

Mike and Holly Leuer celebrated their son's success. His dad was a mentor-coach during his early development. His parents also supported him during his injury setbacks. Especially as a pro.

"Fortunately, I was able to be healthy for my first six years," said Leuer, a second-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Bucks. He also had stints with Cleveland, Memphis, Phoenix and Detroit.

"Then the last two years it was just an avalanche of injuries starting with the ankle and two knee surgeries. After that it was shoulder and hernia surgery.

"I really had five surgeries over the last two-plus years that were back-to-back-to-back. It was like, 'Your body is telling you that you can't do this anymore.' Eventually, you have to listen."

On May 22, 2020, Leuer announced his NBA retirement on Instagram. Framing his statement was a picture of a little kid clutching a basketball in front of an adjustable outdoor hoop.

"I was about 8," Leuer said. "When you look back that far — when you go from that age from playing in the park to where the game can take you — it's an awesome and unbelievable journey."

On playing as a professional, he said, "It was always my dream growing up when I hit my growth spurt in high school, and I went from 6-feet to about 6-10 in a couple of years.

"I grew up playing guard and at 6-10 I still had that guard skill. Just seeing the way the NBA was trending, I thought, 'Okay, this is becoming real now. I think I can see myself playing in the NBA.'"

But he had to get in tune with his body first.

"I got super skinny because I stretched out so far," he said of growing so fast in so little time. "I looked like I was almost malnourished at one point. I was very thin after that spurt.

"I credit Wisconsin and Scott Hettenbach (who was the basketball strength coach) for developing my body. I added weight and strength and everything I did prepared me for the NBA."

Gard didn't necessarily see that potential in Leuer right away. Not as a prep senior. Not even as a freshman. He still had questions. More so than anything else, he saw a work in progress.

"He had the length and the skill set, but could he add the strength and become more athletic and explosive?" he posed. "It wasn't for a lack of want-to. He just didn't swing a big enough hammer."

During his first two UW seasons, Leuer started just 12 of 65 games. As a sophomore, he averaged 8.8 points and 21 minutes of playing time. But he was slowly but steadily filling out.

"You could tell the confidence was growing and growing in large part because of how he had advanced himself and grown physically," said Gard, who respected his stick-to-it-iveness.

"As he evolved as a player, he was driving through traffic and finishing strong at the rim and absorbing contact. He just became more physical. He was able to get to his spots and hold his position.

"I'm not sure he was really that excited about playing physical when he was young, specifically with his back to the basket. But he got really good at some of the turn-around stuff."

In the first round of the 2010 NCAA tournament, Leuer hit the game-winning jumper with 18 seconds remaining, stole the ball and iced the win over Wofford with a couple of free throws.

That same season, he fractured a bone in his left wrist and missed nine Big Ten games. As a junior, he still led the Badgers in scoring with a 15.4 average and rebounding.

The summer prior to his senior year, Leuer took part in the LeBron James basketball camp in San Diego. Scrimmaging against the likes of James certainly bolstered his confidence.

So did the fact that he was one of 10 college players invited to play on the USA Select Team that helped prepare Team USA for the 2010 FIBA World Championships.

Villanova's Jay Wright was the Select coach while Duke's Mike Krzyzewski coached the national team. Leuer got to measure himself against Kevin Durant and Kevin Love, among other NBA All-Stars.

"That was a huge confidence boost for me playing against those guys," Leuer said. "You're going up against the best players in the world every day for two weeks.

"Actually, having some success and kind of being able to actually hold your own is probably when I said, 'I can do this.' You can't immerse yourself in that setting and not get better."

As a senior, Leuer teamed up with another Minnesota product, Jordan Taylor, to give the Badgers a lethal one-two scoring punch. Combined, they averaged 37 points per game.

Both were named first-team All-Big Ten, the first time in school history that Wisconsin had a couple of players so recognized. Leuer and Taylor, a junior, struck a bond then that is still strong today.

The same can be said of all the seniors on that UW team. Those who started: Leuer, Keaton Nankivil, and Tim Jarmusz. And those who didn't: Brett Valentyn, J.P. Gavinski and Wquinton Smith.

It didn't matter whether you were contributing in the rotation or laboring on the scout team. They all shared the same objectives, and the same ups and downs of competition as teammates.

"That's a brotherhood that will never be broken," Leuer said. "It's those four years in college and there's so much growth and maturity that you share together. That creates a life-long bond."

Leuer finished his Badger career with 1,376 points and 551 rebounds in 123 games. More importantly, to his thinking, he was part of a recruiting class that posted 100 wins over four seasons.

One of those victories still stands out to Leuer because of its uniqueness or novelty. It came during his senior year, a hard-fought 66-59 decision over Purdue at the Kohl Center.

"There was a huge snowstorm that night, but they didn't cancel the game," he said. "We were down in the second half, and they announced that school had been canceled for the next day.

"The student section just went nuts and we were excited about not having class, too. We went on a 10-0 run and wound up winning. That was pretty cool to get a run because of a snow day."

The next day, Leuer and many of his teammates took part in a major snowball fight on Bascom Hill that pitted dorms versus dorms and hundreds of students. Cafeteria trays were used as shields.

Holding the "Hill" during the snowball volleys alongside of Valentyn, Taylor, Dan Fahey, Duje Dukan, Jared Berggren and Mike Bruesewitz, et al, was just another leg in Leuer's journey.

Just like that Instagram of the youngster clutching the basketball was another reminder of how far he has traveled. All the way to his alma mater's Hall of Fame. Stuff like that can jump out at you.