Often, preseason media days are over hyped and full of manufactured headlines. But for the Wisconsin faithful, the 2012 men’s basketball edition provided some real news as head coach Bo Ryan immediately named junior guard Josh Gasser the Badgers’ starting point guard for the team’s exhibition opener Nov. 7.
While Gasser has been a starter for UW since a breakout 21-point effort in his first game as a freshman, he has largely been stuck at the 2-guard position with now-departed Jordan Taylor manning the point. Gasser was the favorite to start this season at his natural position, point guard, but the continued improvement of redshirt freshman guard George Marshall led many to believe Ryan might instead choose to keep the Port Washington, Wis., native in as the 2-guard and to plug Marshall in Taylor’s place.
Thursday morning, Ryan ended that speculation, turning a question about the extra practice time afforded under new NCAA rules into an opportunity to officially name his floor captain.
“Thank goodness for the new rule,” Ryan said. “I’m really glad we had that because Josh will be the point guard.”
Over his two seasons playing beside Taylor, Gasser has been far from a second fiddle. Having already notched the first triple-double in UW history and made 66 starts as a Badger, Gasser now figures to improve his career averages of just 6.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
But for Ryan, the impact Gasser has and will continue to have on the floor comes, first and foremost, on the defensive end.
“He is still going to be tough to get the ball from, and he can still get us in position,” Ryan said. “But defensively he is so much better at the point than a lot of the guards we have had because of his length.”
The point guard speculation can end, because Josh Gasser will be setting up the offense when the Badgers christen the 2012-’13 season in just a few weeks.
