Wisconsin Basketball: How Badgers move on from Ethan Happ for 2019-20 season

Next year Wisconsin Basketball will be Happ-less for the first time in four seasons, but that does not mean they will be helpless. Here is a look at a few players who could represent why.

Last season, Badger fans knew what to expect – in terms of scheme and game plan – from their team every time they took to the floor. That is because Wisconsin Basketball’s strategy was simple; feed Ethan Happ the rock and let him dictate everything that follows. Unfortunately though, due to Happ’s departure, next season will not be so simple for the Badgers.

Ethan Happ had the fifteenth highest usage rate (33.5 percent) in all of college basketball last season. By looking back at any Badger game last year, that should come to no surprise. Nearly every possession would include a Happ backdown, from which he would commonly either attack the low-post with his signature spin move or dish out of a potential double team.

Not having that simple fallback option in the playbook could make life much more difficult for Wisconsin, but it also could act as a gateway for a combination of players to step up their production. Allocating for a missing 33.5 percent chunk of their possessions will force the Badgers to find players who can create offense on their own, especially if/when a play call stalls.

Luckily, Wisconsin has a collection of rising players who should be up to the task. While completely making up for Happ’s production is an unlikely feat, lessening the blow is certainly do-able. The key is finding guys who can scrap out a play when called upon, and the following is a list of players who might be able to do that.