Wisconsin Basketball: Potential impact of landing transfers Sam and Joey Hauser

Marquette transfers Sam and Joey Hauser are down to just three schools with Wisconsin Basketball being one of them. The brothers visited Madison a couple weeks ago and things are starting to sound promising for the Badgers despite scheduled visits to Virginia and Michigan State.

Wisconsin Basketball is in the running to land a pair of highly-rated transfers in Sam and Joey Hauser. As far as we know, they’re a packaged deal. Sam chose Marquette over Wisconsin and among a few other schools three years ago. Then when Joey graduated high school last year, it was a no-brainer that he was headed to become a Golden Eagle. After Sam spent three seasons with Marquette and Joey just one, they’re out.

There’s speculation that coach Steve Wojciechowski is to blame. The most common reason is Markus Howard’s style of play. Either way, the Hauser’s will be playing for a new team in 2020 and will make them that much better. Wisconsin has a chance at landing the former four-star recruits from the state. They missed out on them at first, but the Badgers can get them for the second half of their collegiate careers.

It may actually work out for the Badgers better in the end. Sam has done nothing but improve during his three seasons at Marquette. He started 28 out of 32 games during his freshman year. Sam started and played in all 35 games in his second season. He went from just under nine points per game to 14. Sam was five three-pointers short of 100. He then earned a spot on the All-Big East team this past season when he averaged almost 15 points per game, seven rebounds with 88 three-pointers.

Joey earned accolades this past season as well. He was named to the Big East All-Freshmen team. Joey averaged just under 10 points per game, 5.3 boards, 2.4 assists and made 45 three-pointers. He was actually a higher recruited player in 2018 than what Sam was in 2016. Sam is six-foot-eight, 225. He can play anywhere from the two through four. Joey is six-foot-nine, 230. He’s a bonified forward and can easily play either the three or four.

Both guys are going to have to sit out a year no matter what. Sam will have one year left while Joey has two to play. Ideally, they would like to stick together. And not many teams will be able to pull that off unlike Wisconsin. The Badgers consistently not-so-good recruiting may come in handy with trying to land the Hauser’s as a packaged deal.

Wisconsin has four open spots in the next couple of years. The Badgers lost two out of three 2018 recruits to the transfer portal. They have just one recruit coming in for 2019 along with a transfer who has eligibility in the next two years. The Badgers then have just one guy signed for the 2020 season. And to top it all off, Wisconsin will be losing just one guy to graduation after the 2019-20 season. Sam and Joey Hauser would fit perfectly in Wisconsin’s plan for the next few years.

So giving both of them scholarships wouldn’t be an issue. Now let’s talk about how stacked Wisconsin will be during the 2020-21 season. D’Mitrik Trice and Brad Davison proved to be great back-court mates this past season. Both guys can handle the point, they can shoot the ball well and have a great basketball IQ. Trice and Davison will be seniors that year. Kobe King will hopefully take the next step in the upcoming season and be a solid veteran in 2020. Micah Potter has a ton of potential in the front-court six-foot-nine, 240. Then there’s Nate Reuvers who grew tremendously all season long.

That will be your starting five in two years if the Hausers don’t come. If Sam and Joey are there, they are in the lineup every night. The brothers would probably take the place of King and Potter. Wisconsin would add one more player over six-foot-seven in the starting lineup. Potter is a big guy, but both Sam and Joey are better athletes than the transfer form Ohio State. Sam’s rebounding has done nothing but improve through three seasons and he’ll be a forward that can stretch the defense. Something that the Badgers desperately need more of.

Wisconsin doesn’t need Joey coming in and matching his brother’s shooting from long-distance. He can average just over one per game at around 40 percent and that would be just enough. The starting five of Trice, Davison, Sam Hauser, Joey Hauser and Reuvers with King, Potter and Aleem Ford coming off the bench would be top-10 potential. That’s not to mention what the incoming freshmen this year and next will be able to do.

The Wisconsin Badgers have a chance at bringing in homegrown talent. Two former top-100 recruits that just got done playing at their rival school. Basketball fans in Wisconsin were happy to see in-state players stay and play at Marquette, but there will be an over-enjoyment if Sam and Joey Hauser come play for the Badges.

Trevor Anderson, who is coming off leg surgery, graduated high school with Sam Hauser. Together they won a lot of basketball games together including a couple of state championships. Everyone is aware that the Hauser’s are adjusting to college ball just fine and the Badgers would be serious contenders if they came to Madison.