Wisconsin symbolically rebuilds team, one brick at a time

PHILADELPHIA — He hadn't yet coached a game, but he had officially taken the reins of the Wisconsin basketball team, at least on an interim basis in December.

And one of the first things Greg Gard did was go out and buy a bunch of bricks, one for each person tied to the program.

Each was told to write a word or phrase on his brick, something he could contribute to the team, something important to the future of the program. Then, each would sign his own brick.

"i just sensed that we needed something to bond us together visually," Gard said Thursday. "It was more than Xs and Os. Chemistry. ... Loyalty, commitment."

As the players weighed what they wanted to write, Gard talked about the past and the process. Part of what has made the Wisconsin basketball program so successful these last few years has been the relationships between players. These coaches said they've never seen stronger chemistry.

The idea of the bricks was not to be corny or simply symbolic. It was to get players to rethink their roles and recommit to the program and what they wanted to be moving forward.

"One brick by itself, you can't build anything," said Gard, whose brick said leader. "If you put them all together, you grow together, you can build something pretty special. That was the message."

The bricks still stand, together, in the Wisconsin players' lounge back in Madison.

Since they signed them, the Badgers have gone 15-7, finished third in the Big Ten and reached their 18th consecutive NCAA tournament after a rocky start to the season under former coach Bo Ryan, who resigned abruptly in December, paving the way for Gard to take over.

While the bricks won't literally be here with the Badgers as they set to face No. 6 seed Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 Friday night, their message will be fresh on players' minds. And that's exactly the point.

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