MADISON, Wis. — The list of Wisconsin born NBA players has grown exponentially in the last five years. Guys like Kon Knuppel, Tyrese Haliburton, Jalen Johnson, and of course Tyler Herro who the Bucks just traded for have put Wisconsin on the map for developing the highest level hoopers, a phenomenon Sam Dekker calls a hotbed for hoopers.

“To see the difference from my high school class in 2012 when only a few of us played Division One, and now it seems like we (the state of Wisconsin) have 100 guys leaving to go play somewhere Division One (is amazing). There are guys all across the NBA right now from Wisconsin,” Dekker, the former Badger, NBA player, and Wisconsin native told News 3 Now.

“My friends make fun of me because we’ll be somewhere watching the game and I’ll be like — that’s a Wisconsin kid. The fact that everyone’s from Wisconsin now and doing big things in sports is awesome. Once you see someone from your area or county make it gives everybody hope. To be a part of that is something that’s really cool. And now I see guys coming up to me and they see me and they call me Mr. Dekker and I’m like, no, I’m Sam.”

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