With just one week remaining in college basketball's regular season, followed by a second of conference tourney play and the elusive possibility of an extended NIT or NCAA run, area hoops fans have precious time left to enjoy the work of a few sterling seniors: Brian Wardle, Mike Kelley, Mark Vershaw, Andy Kowske and ChadAngeli.
There are other soon-to-be graduates among the rosters of Marquette, Wisconsin and UW-Milwaukee, but these five are the most accomplished and memorable of that group.
So, while watching the Golden Eagles walk over DePaul Thursday on "Al's Night" at the Bradley Center, I found myself pondering how good a team Wisconsin would be if Wardle were its shooting guard; or Marquette's possibilities if Kowske and Vershaw were the starting forwards. Looking at the aforementioned five-some, our local seniors could field one hell of a competitive NCAA squad.
Start at the point with tenacious Badger defender Mike Kelley. The former Marquette ball boy ranks fourth all-time in Big Ten steals and has never missed a game in four years. He played on an extremely tender ankle Wednesday against Minnesota to make it 123 straight. Kelley isn't a big scorer -- his career scoring high is 17, compared to a career steals high of 10 -- but is fourth on the all-time UW assists list. He's also tougher than corrugated iron and routinely draws bigger, quicker scorers on the opposition; he also routinely stifles them.
With Kelley running things, how lovely would it be to have Wardle alongside him? The 6'5" shooter is MU's resident assassin and ranks second in all-time Conference USA scoring. He's led the Golden Eagles in scoring in 15 of 24 games this year. And Wardle doesn't slow down in big games, either. He's scored 25 or more points 15 times in his career, including games against Cincinnati, DePaul and UW. He's the offensive ying to Kelley's defensive yang, and it's only too fitting that theyve been guarding one another every time their teams have met.
Our dream senior team front-line would be impressive simply by plundering UW's. At small forward, Mark Vershaw's effectiveness can be measured to a large degree by opposing fans disdain for him. While Vershaw may not be blessed with matinee idol looks, he handles the ball as deftly as Brad Pitt does a woman's imagination. The 6'9" forward will soon become just the sixth Big Ten player to accrue 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 300 assists, joining the likes of Michael Finley and Brian Evans. His post moves are practically legendary, and he's readily acknowledged as the best passing big man in his conference.
Running mate Andy Kowske is Vershaw's antithesis, a guy who would rather set a screen than shoot behind one. In fact, The Sporting News has called him the nation's best screener -- something Wardle can only envy Kirk Penney for getting to utilize on a nightly basis. Kowske isn't much of a jump shooter, but his .548 career field goal percentage -- buoyed by dunks, tip-ins and a cultivated short hook shot -- is the third-best in UW history. Kowske also brings fire to the court. Though he sometimes fights foul trouble and wallows on the bench because of his aggressive play, he's brought plenty of Kohl Center patrons to their feet with hustle plays and follow-up jams. Along with Kelley and Vershaw, Kowske holds the school record for consecutive games played (123).
No Milwaukee-area dream team would be complete without one of Al McGuire's aircraft carriers in the middle; enter Panthers center Chad Angeli. At 6'9", 240, Angeli has no problem banging with the oppositions toughest post players, and his All-Midwestern Collegiate Conference honors last season included 16.7 points per game, showing his offensive mettle. Like his team, however, Angeli has struggled a bit this year, dipping to just 10.8 ppg. But our big man is still hitting 58% of his shots from the floor. Plus, at 64.5% from the line, hes not a huge liability down the stretch in close games.
Great line-up, but who's coming off the bench? How about Roy Boone, Maurice Linton, Brian Barone and Greg Clausen? Forget Duke or Stanford -- our dream team would certainly be a Final Four favorite.
College hoops is different in countless ways from the pro game, but the most obvious is that even the best undergrad players only get to stick around for four years. This year's seniors have practically become team icons, especially a Wisconsin group that will always be tied to last season's Final Four appearance. Catch them while you can as another year draws to a close.
Sports shots columnist Tim Gutowski was born in a hospital in West Allis and his sporting heart never really left. He grew up in a tiny town 30 miles west of the city named Genesee and was in attendance at County Stadium the day the Brewers clinched the 1981 second-half AL East crown. I bet you can't say that.
Though Tim moved away from Wisconsin (to Iowa and eventually the suburbs of Chicago) as a 10-year-old, he eventually found his way back to Milwaukee. He remembers fondly the pre-Web days of listenting to static-filled Brewers games on AM 620 and crying after repeated Bears' victories over the Packers.
