MIKE LUCAS Senior Writer Related Content • Varsity Magazine

BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. -- After basketball practice at the Kohl Center, Sam Dekker would usually return home to a crowd. That was a good thing, on most nights, when his campus housing would be a bustling hub of activity.

"In college, you'd come home to your roommates," he said, "and if your roommates have friends over, you could come home to anywhere from three to 10 people and you'd hang out all night."

Dekker is now living on his own -- one of the many adjustments that he has been making to his new life as a professional basketball player with the Houston Rockets in the NBA.

"Here, you just come home and try to keep yourself occupied," said Dekker. "I do a lot of FaceTime with the guys back there (Madison) just to keep in touch that way.

"It's just a little different than being at school. You have to grow up pretty quick out here. You're on your own and doing grown-up things around the house."

Like cooking for himself? Does he even know how to cook? Dekker laughed.

"I cook moderately," he said. "I had to learn how to cook a little bit at school. So I do a little bit. But we have a chef at the arena so I take all the extras and bring it home."

The arena is the 12-year-old Toyota Center on Polk Street in downtown Houston.

"All of the guys have been great in the locker room," said Dekker, who was taken with the 18th overall pick in the first round of the draft; one slot behind Milwaukee's choice of UNLV's Rashad Vaughn.

"Off the court, I've hung out with all of them; I've got a good relationship with those guys. Right now, me and Dwight Howard have gotten along really well. We do a lot of things together."

Howard, 29, an eight-time all-star, is entering his 11th season in the league. Dekker, 21, has also been befriended by third-year player Donatas Motiejunas, 25, a seven-foot Lithuania center.

Despite the financial security of a four-year, $8 million contract – with reportedly $3.366 million guaranteed over the first two years – Dekker has not changed his lifestyle.

"I've been pretty frugal," he said. "I'm a guy that doesn't like to spend money. I've been like that forever. I really haven't made a big purchase yet. I'm content with saving up a little more."

Last season, as a UW junior, the 6-foot-9 Dekker was one of the elite wings in college basketball. Like every rookie, he's adjusting to a different tempo and more physical challenges in the NBA.

"The game is a little quicker; everyone is a little bigger and more talented," he said. "At first, it was a little bit of a transition. But I'm much more comfortable now and I'm excited for what's to come."

Houston opens the season at home Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets. A year ago, the Rockets had the third-best record in the league and made it to the Western Conference finals.

"As a rookie, you just have to be ready when your name is called," said Dekker, who shares that status with Montrezl Harrell, the Rockets' second-round pick out of Louisville.

"You can go multiple games without playing. Then, all of a sudden, you're playing 25 minutes and you're in the thick of things. You have to realize you're going to get an opportunity at some point.

"Some guys can go to a team that doesn't have a lot of depth and have to be called upon right away. Some guys go to a team that has a lot of veterans and you have to wait your turn.

"That's what I'm doing right now – being ready at all times. That's your life the first few years in the NBA. But I love learning every day with these guys."

Dekker has been through a transition before. As one of the most celebrated high school players ever in the state of Wisconsin, he had to bridge the gap between Sheboygan Lutheran and the Big Ten.

"I just had to remember what it was like to be a first-year guy learning a new system, a new way, and a new scheme with new expectations," he said. "It's just kind of like being a freshman again.

"Sometimes, you make a mistake and you kind of feel dumb. But all of our veterans have been rookies at one point, too. And they also realize it's a transition."

Dekker is in the process of adjusting to a much different role with the Rockets, whose projected lineup, for now, features Howard, James Harden, Ty Lawson, Trevor Ariza and Terrence Jones.

"In college and high school, you may be the No. 1 option, the go-to guy," Dekker said. "Now, you have to kind of take a step back and realize you have to do other things to stand out.

"Whether that's crashing the boards or making a deflection or playing with energy or just being a good supporter, I'm trying to find more ways to keep myself involved."

Besides everyone being bigger, stronger, faster and more athletic, on the whole, Dekker also has discovered, "They know the game better than they did in college."

But that has not discouraged him. On the contrary. It has motivated him.

"It's still basketball and you still have to play the game," he said assertively. "I'm in this position for a reason. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs. But I'm going to learn a lot."

If you're wondering if Dekker has thought about those back-to-back Final Four appearances with the Badgers, he most certainly has. "Oh, yeah, I think about it all the time," he said.

Dekker was recently sent his Big Ten championship ring and his 2015 Final Four ring. "They're pretty nice," he acknowledged. "But I'm not a guy who wears rings around."

Instead, he's still more into wearing his heart on his sleeve than jewelry.

"I miss those guys," he said of his former teammates, two of whom, Frank Kaminsky and Duje Dukan, also are on NBA rosters. "I keep in touch with all of them because we went through so much.

"Fortunately, there was more good than bad and we can look back on all of those great memories we had and all those good times that we shared.

"Those are things that you can be proud of -- they will never be taken away from you. When I sit back and look at the things that we did, I still feel like I'm a part of Wisconsin basketball, because I am.

"I was really proud to be able to wear that red and white jersey for the three years I did."

But he has closed that chapter in Madison and he's opening a new one in Houston. The team colors are nearly the same. So is his natural curiosity about life and passion for living it to the fullest.

"I'm happy and doing well," he said, "and I'm ready to see what this year has in store for me."