At first glance, Wisconsin senior guard Clayton Hanson doesn't look like he would be the defensive stopper for the basketball Badgers.
UW head coach Bo Ryan has quicker and more athletic guards at his disposal, yet it is almost always Hanson who gets the defensive assignment of guarding the opposition's best backcourt player. Ryan's confidence in the Reedsburg, Wis. native has paid off, as Hanson has proven to be the Badgers' toughest defender.
When Wisconsin knocked off Alabama at the Kohl Center earlier this season, much of the credit could go to Hanson for his defensive masterpiece against the Crimson Tide's leading scorer, senior guard Earnest Shelton.
After the game, Ryan was full of praise for the former walk on.
\Clay's been doing the same thing since the first day he's walked onto this campus,"" Ryan said. ""He's just worked his position, he worked on anticipating. Clayton is a student of the game. He can anticipate things well. To him it's just another day of doing the same things he did in practice.""
It is in practice where Hanson has honed his craft on the defensive end of the floor. What he lacks in speed and quickness, he makes up for in inch-perfect positioning, anticipation, and tireless work ethic. For UW assistant coach Greg Gard, Hanson's development into a strong defensive player is made more impressive considering the fact that he was better known for his offense than his defense coming out of high school. He dropped 28.7 points a game as a senior and tops the Reedsburg High School scoring list with a career average of 20.1 points a game.
""It's in part to his development as a player that he's used his knowledge of basketball and his ability to not make mistakes to make himself a pretty good defensive player,"" Gard said. ""He never gets out of position, he's developed a very good technique of chasing screens, and he's deceiving with his feet, he's always got his feet in the right spot. He's not the quickest guy but he makes up for it in other areas.""
In addition to the praise from his coaches, Hanson's hard work has earned him the respect of his teammates too.
""He's going to work hard, he's never going to take a second off and he's always going to be in the right position,"" senior forward Zach Morley said. ""For guys, like a lot of us, that aren't the most athletic or quickest guys, positioning is more important.""
And while most of Hanson's stats are modest for a starter-he averages 7.3 points and 2.4 rebounds per game-he still manages to play nearly 30 minutes every night, and is third on the team in minutes per game behind just sophomore forward Alando Tucker and senior forward Mike Wilkinson.
One statistical category that Hanson certainly leads is drawn charges.
Though the team doesn't officially keep track of this stat, it's unlikely that anyone else on the team can even come close to Hanson's total. It's a sacrifice not many players are willing to take, but Hanson has developed it into an art form, though largely out of necessity.
""Just through the years, playing guys that are a little more athletic, I know I'm not going to really block too many shots so then it's just about getting position and taking the charge,"" Hanson said.
Positioning and anticipation maybe the two most obvious skills required to take a good charge, but according to Hanson there's one more ingredient that makes him so good at what he does.
""Yeah, I would say there is a little [acting] involved. But not too much, because then you get that reputation and you're not going to get too many.""
That may be the case, but in his four years at Wisconsin, Hanson has gained a different reputation. A reputation of being a guy you don't want to see lined across from you when you are a visiting guard at the Kohl Center.
Both demoralizing for the offense and invigorating for the defense, few plays--besides the clutch 3-pointer or the slam-dunk-can swing the momentum of a basketball game like the drawn charge. With his knack for being in right place at the right time to take the charge, Hanson possesses the capability to turn the tide of a game in the Badgers' favor by just sliding his feet into position.
""He just always seems like when we need a charge he's always there, no matter where his guy is at,"" Morley said.
