March 17, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas
Freshman balancing excitement for NCAAs and concern for Ukraine
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Unlike his Wisconsin teammates who were weaned on the hype and hoopla of March basketball, Markus Ilver wasn't truly exposed to the NCAA tournament until five years ago when one of his countrymen, Maik Kotsar, was a freshman starter for South Carolina in the 2017 Final Four.
"I remember watching every game of his when he played in March Madness," Ilver said.
Kotsar and Ilver are both from Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, a Northern European country of 1.3 million people (slightly less than the metropolitan population of Milwaukee). Bordered by the Gulf of Finland, the Baltic Sea, Latvia and Russia, Estonia was once a part of the old Soviet Union.
It didn't gain its independence until the early 1990's.
Ilver knows its history. It's the future he's concerned about. Considering Estonia's proximity to Russia – Tallinn is 200 miles west of Saint Petersburg – he has been trying to process what has been happening in Ukraine through reports and graphic pictures emanating from the war-torn country.
"At first, when I heard the news about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I was devastated – seeing all these images is heartbreaking and it seems like right now the situation is getting worse," said Ilver who admitted to being "really scared" at the onset of the invasion in late February.
Road trip down Interstate 94
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Since then, he has been seeking reassurance from his family in Tallinn. His dad is the headmaster of a sports academy and a former college player at St. Francis-Brooklyn, a program the Badgers faced and defeated in the season opener. His mom is a travel agent. His younger brother is 12.
Markus Ilver is 20-years-old and growing up quickly in a changing world. A world away from the suffering in Ukraine. While reiterating the obvious – "It is tough, it is heartbreaking" – he also recognizes the feeling of helplessness that permeates his world. "There's nothing I can do," he said softly.
UW coach Greg Gard has appreciated Ilver's diligence in handling things. On the uncontrollable, Gard said, "That's been hard – just the uncertainty of what could happen over there. You definitely don't lose sight of the human element and what's going on very close to his home country."
Ilver was raised on basketball in Tallinn, a city of 450,000 on the Gulf of Finland and Baltic Sea.
"Since I was a baby," he said, "I was always in the gym."
That was due to his dad's influence. Priit Ilver, a 6-8 forward, started 28 of 37 games over two seasons at St. Francis-Brooklyn (1998-2000) before returning home to play professionally in Estonia. He competed until his knees gave out. The impact that he had on his son's love for the sport was tangible.
When Markus Ilver was 15, he took some recruiting visits. To Italy and Germany.
"I had some teams looking at me to join their youth club and eventually build up to the men's league," he recounted. "I talked to my dad, and he said, 'There's another option, too. That would be college in the States.' I knew I wanted to get an education at the same time I was playing basketball.
"It seemed like a reasonable option, so I pursued it."
A scout in Estonia liked what he saw out of Ilver's game and contacted a friend in the United States, Larry Davis, a long-time assistant coach at the University of Cincinnati. For a short time (25 games), Davis was also the interim head coach in the absence of Mick Cronin, who took ill.Headed to Milwaukee today! 💯
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Davis had touched base with Ilver after taking over the program at Lincoln Academy, a charter school, essentially for basketball prodigies, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. "He was really interested in me," Ilver said. "We talked for awhile and I decided to come to the states for my junior year."
But after practicing for a couple of weeks, the school closed its doors because of a payroll scandal. That left the players in the dark with uncertain futures, including Bryce McGowens, a highly-recruited four-star prospect, who re-enrolled at Wren High School in Piedmont, South Carolina.
This past season, McGowens, a Nebraska guard, was the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year.
"It was a big mess," Ilver recalled of his own Lincoln Academy experience, however brief and bittersweet. "At first, I was going to go back home … we hadn't played any games and I had no exposure. But the coach (Davis) got me a scholarship to a military school in Virginia."
Ilver summarily enrolled at Massanutten Military Academy in Woodstock, Va.
"It was tough, I wanted to go home so badly," Ilver said. "It was all the military stuff, wearing a uniform, waking up early in the morning every single day, all the drills and marching. But it was a good life lesson. All the discipline that you got and the routine every day."
Competitively, it was a game-changer for Ilver, who conceded, "I think it was one of the most crucial years I had in basketball because I got so much more confident on the court. It was a great year for me. And that's when I first got exposure to colleges."
One of the recruiters, who had targeted Ilver, was Peter Hutchins, a George Mason assistant, who had just been hired as the head coach at Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio (just outside of Akron). "I knew him, and I trusted him, and I decided to go there," Ilver said.
The UW coaches also trusted Hutchins and his evaluation of Ilver who had been initially contacted by assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft on Twitter after his junior year at Massanutten. The Badgers offered in July of 2020; an NCAA dead period due to COVID. So it was a virtual recruitment.
"I took zero visits," Ilver said with a sigh. "I really didn't know what recruiting was like."
All the communication was done via Zoom or Skype (which had been developed in Estonia).
Ilver also had scholarship offers from Nebraska, Xavier, St. Bonaventure, and George Mason.
"I was still pretty open, and I was going to wait until later in my senior year to commit," said Ilver who saw how serious and genuine the UW pitch was. "I asked Pete Hutchins for advice, and he thought Wisconsin would be the perfect place for me, basketball-wise and academically, too.
"I talked with my parents, and I decided to come here."
Ilver verbally committed to the Badgers in January of 2021. Now here's the irony. A few years earlier, June of 2019, Ilver had taken part in a three-day instructional camp – Basketball without Borders – in Riga, Latvia. It was co-sponsored by the NBA and FIBA. Ilver's coach was Sam Dekker.
Yes, that Sam Dekker, the former star hooper from Sheboygan Lutheran and the UW.
"Markus was a young guy, maybe 16, and I scouted him and drafted him for my team, and we won a championship," Dekker said. "He was pretty soft spoken at the time. But he was a good kid. He had asked me about playing basketball in college. He didn't want to play professionally right away.
"A lot of these kids hire agents, and they go to play for teams in Lithuania or Turkey or wherever. But he expressed that he wanted to go overseas and play college ball. He thought it was cool that the games were on ESPN. I just thought it was sweet."
Later on, Dekker came to this surprising revelation, "I had no idea Wisconsin was looking at him until they offered him. And I was like, 'That's Markus. I know Markus.' I thought he was really poised for his age. I think he can be pretty dynamic for what they're trying to do in Madison."
This week, Ilver was asked about his chance meeting with Dekker in Latvia. "After games, he would tell stories and every player would listen," Ilver said. "Back then, I wasn't really thinking about Wisconsin. But once they started recruiting me, I made the connection, 'Yep, that Sam Dekker.'"
Over the past year, Ilver has made a smooth transition to the Madison campus and culture.
"People were telling me, 'Madison is cold … blah, blah, blah' but Estonia is cold, too," said Ilver who noted that he has been living on his own away from home for some time now – "I've lived in the dorms for the past four years" – which has facilitated his adjustment to athletics and academics.
"I've always been a good student," said Ilver, who speaks Estonian, English and a little bit or Russian. English was mandatory in the Tallinn schools at a young age. His is getting more fluid. "You just have to stay on top of things with the season going on and make sure you don't get behind."
Physically, the 6-8 Ilver has been a little bit behind Big Ten standards.
"I knew coming into my freshman year," he said, "I didn't expect to play much."
Ilver has appeared in eight games, a combined total of 29 minutes. Gard and his staff had considered the possibility of redshirting him like they have Chris Hodges and Matthews Mors. But decided against it because of his age. Nevertheless, Ilver feels like he has gotten better.
"Oh, definitely," he said. "I've put some pounds on – in the summer I was like 212 and now I'm 221 – and I've gotten stronger in the weight room. I'm getting better on the court defensively. I used to be only a catch-and-shooter. But now I'm driving it more and creating shots for myself.
"I'm getting more confident on the court, I'd say."
Competing on the scout team against starters like Tyler Wahl has fostered growth.
"He has gotten his eyes opened a little bit on how good you have to be and how physical this level is," Gard said. "Everybody is bigger, faster, stronger. But absolutely, I think he can be a really good player. The biggest thing for him is going to be an off-season of transforming his body."
Having already set his sights on that, Ilver said, "As soon as the season ends and the offseason starts, I have to get in the weight room and get on the court and work on my game. With all these guys leaving – Brad (Davison), probably Johnny (Davis), CV (Chris Vogt) – somebody has to replace them."
Davison has turned out to be one of Ilver's most reliable sounding boards and mentors.
"He has been a close friend of mine," Ilver said. "He took me in from the first day,"
A big part of Ilver's routine has not changed from day-to-day. "Everybody wants to play, and I work hard every day trying to improve myself and trying to get my teammates better," he said. "I'm enjoying the process … It has been a great experience. We're winning games and it has been all fun.
"I'm just getting more excited every day."
Big Dance excitement. And anticipation. The Badgers will open play in the NCAA tournament Friday night against Colgate at Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum. Some of Ilver's fellow Estonians will be cast in leading roles this March, namely Arizona's Kerr Kriisa and Saint Mary's Matthias Tass.
lver will have to wait his turn for a future March to be an active participant in the Madness.
All the while hoping and praying that the madness in another part of the world subsides.
