{"id":949551,"date":"2026-11-02T06:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T06:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/949551\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T06:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T06:10:10","slug":"mens-basketball-looks-to-bounce-back-after-a-successful-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/949551\/","title":{"rendered":"Men\u2019s basketball looks to bounce back after a successful season"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"UW-Whitewater<\/a> <\/p>\n

UW-Whitewater men\u2019s basketball team celebrates winning WIAC regular season champions in the Kachel Gymnasium, Feb. 21, 2026. <\/p>\n

The UW-Whitewater men\u2019s basketball team looks to move forward this upcoming season after becoming the WIAC regular season champions for the first time since the 2014-15 season, when they shared the championship with UW-Stevens Point.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last season, Whitewater lost to UW-La Crosse in the conference tournament championship, 81-78. UW-W ended up getting a bid to the NCAA tournament, hosted by Wash-U, where they won their first game against Loras College, 85-76. But their season would end against Wash-U, losing 74-71 in a heated game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With the team losing six impactful seniors last season, the 2026-27 senior class has stepped up to bring the team together. Forward Brock Marino and guard Collin Madson are ready to get back on the court.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Madson started all 29 games last season and led the team in field goals made, free throws made, total points, steals, total rebounds and was WIAC first-team all-conference. He was named D3hoops.com<\/a> third-team preseason All-American. With Madson approaching his last season, it means a lot to him, as he acknowledged that this is it for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have poured so much heart and investment into my senior season. I really am ready to leave it all out on the court for my team and the Warhawk community,\u201d Madson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Madson noted his role as a leader and he knows the standard and the culture with the team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI try my best to be the loudest and communicate the most with the team,\u201d Madson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not only the on-court culture matters, having good chemistry off the court helps build relationships which affect play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the funniest on the team is sophomore forward Rashad Rodgers, he keeps everyone in a good mood and can give anyone a good laugh when they need it,\u201d Madson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Marino also reflected on his upcoming senior season, wanting to take everything slow and get everything he possibly can out of this season, knowing that \u201cevery practice, lift and game\u201d will be among his last. Marino, the team leader in defensive rebounds, played in 28 games, starting 27 of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"UW-Whitewater men\u2019s basketball junior forward Brock Marino cuts the rope at the rope cutting ceremony after winning WIAC regular season championships, Feb. 21, 2026 in the Kachel Gymnasium. (Charlie Clark<\/a>)<\/p>\n

He reflected on last season, understanding what it takes to have a successful year and knowing every guy was brought in to make all the little things happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to using that experience to help the team this year accomplish even more,\u201d Marino said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The preparation for this upcoming season started in the summer. Madson was in the gym six days of the week, with about 2-3 workouts. He wanted to improve his skills in ball handling, passing out of ball screens and making better reads coming off-ball screens.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Warhawks start their season with non-conference play Nov. 7 against Carroll University and start conference play in January against UW-River Falls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both Marino and Madson are looking forward to a couple specific opponents. Marino is looking forward to the California trip in December, where Whitewater will face California Lutheran University and California Technical College. Madson is most looking forward to playing against Elmhurst University, Gustavus University, UW-Stevens Point and UW-La Crosse, as he views the best competition as a test to both the team and individuals. Madson explained how he feels the Warhawks did not get the recognition they deserved, and that these games will give them the chance to prove to themselves and show the team\u2019s talent.<\/p>\n

Both players want to win. They are hungry for another title and to move further in the NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to win. The most fun and important basketball is played when we\u2019re winning, so my goal is to have an even more successful season than last season,\u201d Marino said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Warhawks gained four freshmen: Luke Paddock from Elkhorn, Chris Johnson from Beloit, Zavier Castillo from Greendale, Wis., and Jonathan Aluyi from Chicago. The Warhawks also added Taveon Vann, a junior transfer from Bay College, where he played in 28 games and averaged just under ten points per game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that all the new pieces we have brought in have contributed in some way. They have made a major impact on our team,\u201d Madison said. \u201cThey have adjusted quickly and understand what it takes to win and how to do it consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Head coach Jarod Wichser enters his fourth year. After leading the team to a WIAC conference regular season title, he is looking to bounce back and has big goals for this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCoaches\u2019 biggest emphasis for this season is about every guy buying into all the small details and not taking any shortcuts because great teams don\u2019t take shortcuts,\u201d Marino said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the season tips off this week, both Madson and Marino will be the ones the team looks to, just as they were when they started their careers at UW-W. It\u2019s their last chance to win the conference and win it all.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UW-Whitewater men\u2019s basketball team celebrates winning WIAC regular season champions in the Kachel Gymnasium, Feb. 21, 2026. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":949552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-949551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=949551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/949552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=949551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=949551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=949551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}