For former Wisconsin Badger and current Dallas Maverick guard Devin Harris, walking around campus Friday night felt similar to move-in day for a student returning after a long summer away.
“It’s a little weird being back on campus,” Harris said. “It doesn’t look like it did when I was here. But it feels good to be back.”
But unlike a returning student anxious to begin the school year, Harris didn’t have jitters when he returned to Madison and the Kohl Center floor Saturday night. He didn’t exactly have a reason to be nervous. The Badger legend sat out Saturday night’s exhibition game against the Milwaukee Bucks because he is finishing recovering from an offseason toe surgery.
Harris wasn’t the only local Madison great in the building Saturday night. He was one of four players with Wisconsin connections to return to the Kohl Center in a night full of old-time reunions.
For Harris, local high school standout Wesley Matthews Jr., Golden Eagle Steve Novak and Badger star Michael Finley, the campus, the city and the UW basketball program have all changed over the years. But even though it’s been quite a while since they all played in local gyms, they’ve continually received love from Madison basketball fans.
“I was never privileged to play in such a great building like this,” Finley, the assistant vice president of Basketball Operations for the Mavericks said. “But the one consistent thing that we’ve had is the fans over the years. The fans have always been supportive. That’s always going be a constant no matter who’s the coach or who’s the players.”
Matthews Jr. grew up in Madison and played for the Madison Memorial Spartans before attending Marquette to play for the Golden Eagles. While he never donned the Cardinal and White, he still has incredibly fond memories of Madison and the Kohl Center.
“It’s always been home. I’ve always claimed it as home,” Matthews Jr. said. “It’s always been there for me. It’s always had my back and I try to give back to it and I have a lot of fun doing it.”
Matthews Jr., the son of former Badger Wesley Matthews Sr., remembers snapping the Badgers' 28-game home winning streak during his junior season with the Golden Eagles and also winning the state tournament as a high schooler on the Kohl Center hardwood in 2005.
Fellow Golden Eagle and Brown Deer, Wis., native Steve Novak also remembers playing in Madison during high school. And while the current Milwaukee Bucks small forward didn’t wear a Badgers’ uniform like Harris or Finley, he received arguably the loudest ovation of the game Saturday night when he checked in midway through the fourth quarter.
“It was very different. I’ll be honest,” Novak said after the game. “Usually it’s very unfriendly territory. And now it was really nice. Obviously we feel support from Bucks fans, but I think Wisconsin basketball fans as well.”
Two weeks ago, while the Bucks spent four days of training camp working out in the Nicholas Johnson Pavilion, Novak was blown away by the fan support he received just while walking around campus.
“I mean it was unbelievable,” Novak said. “The people, the students saying, ‘go Bucks’ or saying, ‘hello.’ It was really cool just being back here and walking around. I think I was more well-received as a Buck than I was as a Golden Eagle.”
But while Novak wasn’t used to such a reaction from the Madison faithful, Harris was truly a Madison veteran in his homecoming.
“On the bench guys were asking me lots of questions like, ‘where do the Badgers sit?’ And I’m like, ‘over there,’” Harris said. “And this is where I used to sit and my parents used to sit right there. Just a lot of memories over the years of playing here and just having a really good time doing it.”
Both Harris and Finley interacted with the current group of Badgers after Saturday morning’s shootaround and both gave the team a preseason pep-talk.
But Finley also reunited with his former Badger teammate and close friend, assistant coach Howard Moore. Moore and Finley were part of a Wisconsin generation that helped to lay the foundation for guys like Harris to thrive.
And since leaving Wisconsin, both Harris and Finley continue to track the program closely, recognizing that it has only improved since they left years ago.
The two former Badger greats might no longer suit up in the Cardinal and White. And Matthews and Novak might no longer be an active part of the Marquette-UW rivalry, but Saturday night at the Kohl Center was as close to a Madison basketball reunion as you’ll get.
And while many of the players involved look very different than they did when they used to play in Madison, their love for the place has remained the same.
“This is who I kind of grew up with,” Harris said. “This is where it started for me. It was a great three years spent here and like I said, the type of relationship I have with the fans has always been great.”
