Wisconsin Basketball: Badgers reportedly in the mix for Hauser brothers

Sam and Joey Hauser shocked the college hoops world Monday by announcing they would be transferring from Marquette. Could Wisconsin Basketball land the talented duo?

Wisconsin basketball fans have long watched Sam and Joey Hauser’s success at Marquette with envy: the brothers were both coveted in-state recruits from Stevens Point and they each could have very easily ended up in the Cardinal and White under different circumstances (more on that later). Remarkably, it appears as though the Badgers could have a shot to bring the Hausers to Madison after all, albeit a few years later than they would have hoped.

On Monday, the brothers both took to Twitter and announced that they would be transferring from Marquette, an absolutely devastating blow to a squad that was looking an awful lot like a national championship contender next season prior to this development. There has already been a ton of speculation as to what prompted their decision to leave Milwaukee, but no concrete details have been made public to this point.

Both brothers will likely have to sit out next season, after which Sam and Joey will have one and two more seasons of eligibility, respectively.

As one might expect, the brothers plan to transfer to the same program, and the duo will certainly have no shortage of suitors for their services: Sam averaged 14.9 points and 7.2 rebounds a game for the Golden Eagles last season as a junior, while Joey contributed 9.7 and 5.3, respectively. Prior to coming to Marquette, both were ranked within the Top 100 nationally as recruits in their respective classes and have lived up to that billing so far in their respective careers.

At the moment, two programs appear to be in the best shape to land the brothers, according to sources: the newly-crowned national champion Virginia Cavaliers look to be the frontrunner at the moment, but, to the delight of Wisconsin fans everywhere, the Badgers are also firmly in the mix.

Many Wisconsin fans will see this situation as an incredible opportunity for the Badgers to atone for a couple of misses on the recruiting trail that have haunted the program for the last few seasons. The saga began with the recruitment of Sam in the class of 2016: Bo Ryan’s staff recruited him but never actually offered a scholarship. Instead, he ended up at Marquette and ultimately developed into one of the top players in the Big East.

Unlike his brother, Joey was offered by Greg Gard and Wisconsin, and they made him arguably their top overall target (perhaps even more so than Tyler Herro) in the 2018 class and pursued him intensely for years. The Badgers were right there throughout his entire recruitment, but, in the end, he chose to play with his brother for the Golden Eagles.

Throughout the last few years, Wisconsin fans have been haunted by the thought of what might have been if Sam had just received an offer from the Badgers. Would he have committed to Wisconsin, with Joey following suit a couple of years later?

Unbelievably, it looks like we could very well have the opportunity to see that vision come to fruition. I’m not getting my hopes up just yet given Virginia’s apparent status as the current frontrunner, but Wisconsin certainly has several factors working in its favor.

The Badgers can offer the Hausers the chance to stay in their home state and routinely play in front of family and friends. Both Sam and Joey possess ideal skill sets for Wisconsin’s style of play with their strong fundamentals, versatility, and shooting, which is why they were each heavily recruited by the Badgers in the first place. In addition, they would have the opportunity to team up with Trevor Anderson, their former high school teammate at SPASH with whom they won three state championships.

Speaking of Anderson, he wasted little time in getting a sales pitch in.

https://twitter.com/TreMamBa15/status/1117842589963685888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1117842589963685888&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buckys5thquarter.com%2F2019%2F4%2F15%2F18311776%2Fmarquette-basketball-sam-joey-hauser-transfer-wisconsin-virginia

As did former Wisconsin star Sam Dekker:

https://twitter.com/dekker/status/1117852769719685120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1117852769719685120&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buckys5thquarter.com%2F2019%2F4%2F15%2F18311776%2Fmarquette-basketball-sam-joey-hauser-transfer-wisconsin-virginia

Even if the Hausers don’t wind up at Wisconsin, assuming they land outside the Big Ten, their departure from Marquette is a win in and of itself for the Badgers, who face the Golden Eagles annually. After all, Sam and Joey were two of Steve Wojciechowski’s top three players, along with All-American guard Markus Howard. No longer will Wisconsin have to worry about being torched by two players who, in the eyes of a large portion of its fan base, should be Badgers right now.

That being said, they still very well could be soon.

Stay tuned to Badger of Honor for updates as this situation continues to develop.