Andy Kilbride was never cut from the Wisconsin men's basketball team. But if he was, he might have been prepared to handle the rejection.
After a couple firings and a lay-off in the turbulent investment world, the former UW shooting guard has penned a humorous, yet insightful advice book titled, "A Man's Guide to Getting Fired."
Kilbride will be in Madison on Friday, Sept. 30, to promote his new book. He will appear at Underground Printing (521 State Street) to sign books from 5-7 p.m.
A three-year starter for the Badgers, Kilbride (1992-95) still ranks seventh in UW history for career 3-point shooting (41.8 percent). He is now the founder of Foster Bridge Partners, LLC, a management and consulting firm, but has recently added author to his resume. Kilbride is using his new book to inspire readers to create a life centered on their passions. "A Man's Guide to Getting Fired" reveals the process he developed to push his own life and career forward.
"I stopped climbing the corporate ladder and made my own way," Kilbride said. "Now I can look back on my former miserable life with clarity and objectivity. I want to share with you what I have learned from my experiences - what I did right and what I did wrong."
According to Kilbride, there is a lack of available information on what to do after you lose your job and before you find a new one. With this in mind, he offers witty anecdotes and liberating advice intended to help men understand what they're going through, look within to recalibrate their professional goals and move on with their lives.
Last season Jordan Taylor burst onto the college basketball scene with a monster year and a few signature games. For his efforts, Taylor was widely rewarded with second-team All-America honors.
Count Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook as the first to think Taylor can make the leap to first-team All-American in 2011-12.
The annual preview magazine has included Taylor on its preseason first-team All-American list, joining Harrison Barnes (North Carolina), Terrance Jones (Kentucky), Kris Joseph (Syracuse) and Jared Sullinger (Ohio State).
Taylor enters his senior season after averaging 18.1 points per game (5th in Big Ten) and 20.1 ppg during conference play last year. A lethal shooter, Taylor shot 43% from 3-point range (7th in Big Ten) and 85% from the free throw line (4th in Big Ten). Taylor also led the nation with a 3.83 assist-to-turnover ratio.
In its 31st year of publication, the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook is one of the most comprehensive college basketball publications in the world. On newsstands in October, Blue Ribbon gives readers thorough, up-to-date and timely evaluations of every Division I team in the country.
The Wisconsin men's basketball team has announced preliminary details for the annual Red-White Scrimmage sponsored by the University Bookstore. Fans can get their first look at the 2011-12 Badgers on Sunday, Oct. 30, beginning at 2 p.m. at the Kohl Center.
Admission, as always, is free to the public and the UW coaches and players will be available following the scrimmage for a one-hour autograph signing.
Former Badger Keaton Nankivil, who is now playing professional in Germany, was the leading scorer in each of the last three Red-White Scrimmages. Who will steal the headlines this year?
Wisconsin returns a pair of starters from last season's Sweet 16 team in second-team All-American Jordan Taylor and backcourt mate Josh Gasser. Junior Mike Bruesewitz, who averaged nearly 20 minutes per game and made 13 starts a year ago, returns in 2011-12, albeit with much less hair.
The Red-White Scrimmage will also offer fans their first look at the six newcomers on the Badgers' roster. Bo Ryan's staff welcomes five freshmen and transfer Zach Bohannon into the fray in 2011-12.
Mark your calendars now for the Red-White Scrimmage on October 30 and stay tuned to UWBadgers.com for more details as the event draws near.
Leaves changing color, weekends full of football and giant men in red and white running "The Hill" at Elver Park... rites of fall in Wisconsin.
The 2011-12 Wisconsin men's basketball season officially started on Sept. 7 with the year's first running of "The Hill." The time-honored tradition stepped off with eight repetitions up and down the hill that measures over 100 yards long and roughly a 35-percent grade.
The team will increase reps until reaching 22 by mid-October.
On day one, 15 of the 17 Badgers were in attendance, with only Jared Berggren and Rob Wilson absent due to a class conflict. Jordan Taylor (recovering from ankle surgery in July) and J.D. Wise (broken foot in 2010-11) were both held from running the hill, but did other strength and conditioning activities on the side.
Wearing weighted vests, Taylor and Wise took turns throwing weighted medicine balls backward up the hill and doing various other exercises.
"The foot's feeling pretty good, it's getting there," Taylor said after the workout."I'm about 70 percent right now. It should be better by the next week or two."
By Patrick Herb on September 9, 2011 2:21 PM
|1 Comment
Every year when schedules are announced, fans and experts alike quickly analyze the lineup of games and make judgments about the schedule's toughness.
It's a natural reaction and we all do it. We go down the list game-by-game and say: "easy win, tough game, easy win, easy win, tough game, toss-up, no chance, easy win, etc."
We all try to determine whether the schedule is easy, hard or somewhere in the middle. That's how we pass the time and fill our water cooler discussions when we're still two months from tip-off.
The thing that often goes unrecognized, is that this preseason ritual is based off of the previous' results and hype surrounding each opponent. The real measure of a schedule should be done after the season when you can analyze how each opponent performed instead of how each opponent was supposed to perform.
"Schools can never really be sure how their non-league opponents will fare in a given season," ESPN.com's Joe Lunardi wrote recently. "Teams can schedule so-called "up" games in tournaments, home-and-home series, one-way road trips, etc., and said opponents can underachieve for any number of reasons."
Using Wisconsin as an example, last season provided two terrific examples of how unpredictable scheduling can be. At the time UW faced Notre Dame in the championship game of the Old Spice Classic, the Irish were not even receiving votes in the AP poll and were largely predicted to finish anywhere from seventh to 10th in the Big East. Notre Dame went on to go 27-7 and finish second in the rugged conference.
On the flip side, UW's dance partner in the 2010 Big Ten/ACC Challenge was NC State, an up-and-coming team that entered the season with a returning all-conference pick, a top-ranked recruiting class and as a lock for a top-half finish in the ACC. Instead, the season unraveled quickly (including an 87-48 loss at the Kohl Center) and led to head coach Sidney Lowe's resignation and a 15-16 record.
Notre Dame or NC State from 2011 illustrate that predicting the future is a difficult exercise. The real analysis of a schedule should come when the nets are being cut down at the Final Four.
With that in mind, Lunardi recently examined the schedules of every BCS team over the last four seasons based on results, not predictions. He ranked the schools that have played the toughest non-conference schedules over that span and revealed that Wisconsin has played the ninth-toughest slate on that list.
So... truth or myth, Wisconsin plays weak non-conference schedules? The proof is in the numbers:
Quick... which schools have had the most All-Americans in college basketball history?
Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina... yep, those are no brainers. What about Duke? Sure. UCLA? Of course. Wisconsin? That's right, Wisconsin. While adding Jordan Taylor (AP second-team) to the All-American section of the Wisconsin men's basketball record book, I unearthed some information that, quite simply, blew me away. Try this on for size.
Only Kansas and Kentucky have had more men's basketball All-Americans than Wisconsin.
According the NCAA Official Record Book, Wisconsin has had 17 individuals earn a total of 20 consensus first-team All-America honors. UW's 17 All-Americans ranks third among all Div. I schools and the Badgers' 20 All-America honors ranks seventh all-time.
Here are the numbers:
TOTAL INDIVIDUAL CONSENSUS 1ST-TEAM ALL-AMERICANS Team Individuals 1. Kansas 20 2. Kentucky 18 3. Wisconsin 17 4. North Carolina 16 Purdue 16 6. Duke 15 7. Penn 14 UCLA 14 9. Columbia 13 Notre Dame 13
TOTAL CONSENSUS 1ST-TEAM ALL-AMERICA HONORS Team All-Americans 1. Kansas 27 2. North Carolina 25 3. Purdue 24 Penn 24 5. Kentucky 23 6. Notre Dame 22 7. Wisconsin 20 UCLA 20 9. Columbia 19 10. Duke 18
Granted, most of UW's All-Americans came in the early 1900s, but still... an All-American is an All-American. If UW ever decides to hang jerseys in the rafters, it would get pretty crowded in the Kohl Center. Here is the honor roll:
1905 - C.D. McLees, Chris Steinmetz, Sr.* 1907 - Frank Arthur 1908 - Hugh Harper, Helmer Swenholt 1909 - Helmer Swenholt 1911 - Walter Scoville 1912 - Otto Stangel* 1913 - Allen Johnson 1914 - Carl Harper, Eugene Van Gent 1915 - George Levis 1916 - William Chandler, George Levis* 1917 - Harold Olsen 1918 - William Chandler*, Eber Simpson 1941 - Gene Englund 1942 - John Kotz 2007 - Alando Tucker
Came across this article in my news feed recently about former Wisconsin big-man Ian Markolf. The 7-foot center from San Antonio has apparently decided to return to basketball and will play for NCAA Division II school Incarnate Word in San Antonio.
Markolf spent two seasons on the Badger hoops team (2009 and '10) before leaving the program. He remained in school at UW during the 2010-11 academic year, but has now transferred closer to home.
"I just got the itch to play basketball and Incarnate Word seemed like the perfect fit for me," Markolf told television KENS in Texas. "I grew up playing with some of the guys on the team, and I started talking to them this spring about maybe transferring here.
"It turned out to be a pretty simple process. Incarnate Word has a great academic program, and I think I'll have a chance at some great business opportunities when I graduate. I'm also going to get the chance to play basketball with a great group of guys."
ESPN has finalized the network and time assignments for the 13th annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge Presented by DICK'S Sporting Goods to be played Nov. 29-30. Wisconsin will play in the final game of the challenge when it travels to North Carolina on Wed. Nov. 30. The game is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m (CT) and will be televised on ESPN.
The 2011 Challenge involves six teams ranked in an early preseason top 25 by ESPN.com senior college basketball writer Andy Katz, including three in the top five: No. 1 North Carolina, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 5 Duke, No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 21 Florida State and No. 23 Michigan.
The Big Ten won the Commissioner's Cup for the second consecutive year while the ACC won the previous 10 Challenges. In the event of a 6-6 tie this year, the Commissioner's Cup will remain with the conference that won the previous year.
The Badgers own the most wins of any Big Ten team in the Challenge with six and share the top winning percentage (6-6, .500) with Ohio State (5-5, .500) in Challenge games.
2011 Big Ten/ACC Challenge schedule:
Date Time (ET) Game Network Tue, Nov 29 7 p.m. No. 23 Michigan at Virginia ESPN2 7:15 p.m. Northwestern at Georgia Tech ESPNU 7:30 p.m. Illinois at Maryland ESPN 9 p.m. Miami at Purdue ESPN2 9:15 p.m. Clemson at Iowa ESPNU 9:30 p.m. No. 5 Duke at No. 3 Ohio State ESPN Wed, Nov 30 7:15 p.m. Indiana at North Carolina State ESPN2 7:15 p.m. Penn State at Boston College ESPNU 7:30 p.m. No. 21 Florida St. at Michigan St. ESPN 9:15 p.m. Virginia Tech at Minnesota ESPN2 9:15 p.m. Wake Forest at Nebraska ESPNU 9:30 p.m. No. 11 Wisconsin at No. 1 North Carolina ESPN
Between games, Mike Bruesewitz and his East Coast All-Star teammates have had a chance to explore Tallinn, Estonia. Here are a few pictures sent back to the homeland.
1.) Bruesewitz poses with his Big Ten teammates in Old Town. L to R: Anthony Johnson (Pur.), Matt Gatens (Iowa), Bryce Cartwright (Iowa), Bruesewitz and Elliott Eliason (Minn.).
2.) Bruesewitz finds he's too tall for this Estonian doorway.
3.) Mike stops to pose a fellow red-head outside of a store in Tallinn.
Mike Bruesewitz's team, the East Coast All-Stars, have begun play
in the Four Nations Cup in Estonia. East Coach All-Stars coach Guy
Rancourt emailed this update after Game Two of the tournament.
- - - - - - - -
As the team ran through the tunnel entering Saku Arena this evening they were welcomed by a group of Estonian teenagers waving an American flag. The crowd of 3,100 Estonians applauded the team's effort from the previous night, but despite airhorns blowing, fans cheering, and holding NBA veteran Zaza Pachulia to just one field goal for the game, the East Coast All Stars came up short Friday night. A 15-0 All Star run in the fourth quarter gave the group of Americans a 4 point deficit with 2:00 remaining, but the Georgian National Team countered with a 13-0 run of their own, resulting in a 98-81 East Coast defeat.
Rodney McGruder (K-State) once again came out ready to play pouring in 22 points and grabbing 14 rebounds to lead the team in both categories. From the start the game was physical and fast as Georgia, the only participant eligible for the 2011 European World Championships, ran out to a quick 9 point lead. The East Coast front line of Jack Cooley (Notre Dame) and Elliott Eliason (Minnesota) responded on the glass to help end the quarter on an 11-2 run, knotting the game at 20-20.
The second quarter continued providing runs on both sides as the tandem of McGruder and Mike Bruesewitz (Wisconsin) hit the offensive glass hard for some easy baskets, but Georgia had the final run to open up a 49-42 halftime lead.
Early in the 3rd quarter Baye Moussa Keita was subbed out for precautionary reasons due to a minor foot injury, but enough to keep him sidelined for the remainder of the contest. With fouls mounting and the team short-handed Georgia was able to open its lead to 73-64.
Georgia again came out quickly to open up a 19 point lead with 7:34 left in the game. Anthony Johnson (Purdue) and Brandon Triche (Syracuse) then found a rhythm and combined for an 8-0 run cutting the lead to 11 points. On the next possession Cooley again came up with a big defensive rebound, receiving an elbow to the face that drew a foul and stopped play. Cooley's small cut under his eye forced him to check out briefly, but all that did was open the door for Iowa's Matt Gatens. Gatens made both free throws for Cooley, then followed with another transition basket to keep the run alive. The feisty All Stars hung tough chipping away at the Georgian lead and had the ball in their hands down 85-81 but simply ran out of gas.
Manuchar Markoishvilli lead the Georgian National Team in scoring with 20 points and Pachulia of the NBA Atlanta Hawks led them in rebounding with 9.
The team will head into its final game of the Four Nations Cup against tournament host Estonia tomorrow evening. Game time will be 1:00PM EST and televised on Estonia's ETV2.
After a couple firings and a lay-off in the turbulent investment world, the former UW shooting guard has penned a humorous, yet insightful advice book titled, "A Man's Guide to Getting Fired."
According to Kilbride, there is a lack of available information on what to do after you lose your job and before you find a new one. With this in mind, he offers witty anecdotes and liberating advice intended to help men understand what they're going through, look within to recalibrate their professional goals and move on with their lives. 
After a couple firings and a lay-off in the turbulent investment world, the former UW shooting guard has penned a humorous, yet insightful advice book titled, "A Man's Guide to Getting Fired."
