Sunday’s game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Marquette Golden Eagles at the Kohl Center in Madison will be fierce and intense, just as every game is between Wisconsin and Marquette. The two schools always pour their emotions into this game. It always matters. It always stirs the soul.
This year, though, the battle between the Badgers and the Golden Eagles will be even more personal than it normally is. Really, you might be asking? What could be the reason to make a statement like that? The answer to the question is deceptively simple. There are two reasons why UW-Marquette packs more of a punch in 2019. Those reasons are named Joey Hauser and Sam Hauser.
Makes sense, right? Joey and Sam Hauser played for Marquette last season. Now they don’t. Joey transferred to Michigan State, Sam to Virginia. Those two schools are not Wisconsin. We are left with the simple reality that the Hauser brothers didn’t initially go to Wisconsin, and didn’t transfer there. They also, however, left Marquette and didn’t think it was worth it to stick with Steve Wojciechowski. Both schools have been stung by the rejection of the Hauser brothers.
To be clear, what young athletes choose to do with their careers is not a manifestation or reflection of morality or ethics. Playing at one school is not a more noble (or impoverished) decision than playing at another. A transfer is not an act of betrayal. None of this has anything to do with the character of a person, and should not be seen as a direct or implied criticism of the Hausers (or any other athletes who transfer). I am merely noting that in 2019, Marquette and Wisconsin are both taking the court without a Hauser brother in either program. The two brothers from Stevens Point, Wis., will not be found in Madison on Sunday.
You know Marquette wants to prove it can beat Wisconsin for a million different reasons, but winning without the Hausers is certainly one of the more prominent ones. You know Wisconsin wants to pounce on Marquette, early in the season, to make a statement about the balance of college basketball power in this state.
It is sometimes the case that the absence of a person — or two persons — from a building is noticed more than the presence of any other individuals. Wisconsin will feel the absence of Micah Potter from this game, but other than Potter, are two people going to be noticed more by their absence from Sunday’s contest than Sam and Joey Hauser? Those brothers, no longer playing college basketball in the state of Wisconsin, will definitely be noticed on Sunday. The next question: Which school will lament that absence more when Sunday’s game is over?