There is an alternative reality where Bo Ryan recruited Sam Hauser with his younger brother Joey in mind, and Ryan convinced Sam to come play for Wisconsin. Sam ended up having a big year off the bench for now-coach Greg Gard, and the team would be pursuing five-star younger brother, Joey. They would bring him, and Badgers would have duo of brothers. Instead, this is happening at Marquette much to ire of Badgers nation. This misguided disdain for Joey Hauser is unnecessary. Rather, we should talk about how Ryan screwed this whole thing up.

When Sam Hauser played at Stevens Point, Ryan and his staff did not pay any attention to him. This left a poor taste with the family’s mouth along with Sam himself. As you can imagine with his family working in the WIAA, there’s some history with Madison. The fact he chose Marquette over Virginia, not Wisconsin, is unreal. That said, the family did not shut out Wisconsin with their younger son, Joey. He went through the process, and Wisconsin went after him hard in the past couple of years. Still, it was not enough for him to commit to Badgers. If Sam is already there, you have to think it’s a slam dunk for Bucky.

Here’s a fun hypothetical for Wisconsin fans to ponder. Would Sam Hauser been recruited with Greg Gard at the helm? To me, he has done a better job in the last couple years with recruiting including nabbing players like Kobe King and Tyler Herro. I know Gard ran recruiting side of things when Ryan was the head coach, but in the end, he makes the final say plus at that time, Gard isn’t seen by young guys in a very high regard. This Hauser thing has to hurt a little bit.

In the end, it’s just another chapter between Marquette and Wisconsin in recruiting battles. We’re going to have those until college basketball ends.

Charlie.