Grading the Basketball Badgers: Jared Berggren

It’s day two in our Grading the Basketball Badgers series and it’s Jared Berggren’s turn under the microscope.  

If you missed our first player in the series, the Madison Microwave himself you can find our look at Ben Brust by clicking here.  But here is our look at Jared Berggren’s 2011-12 season.

One of the biggest question marks entering the 2011-12 season was the front court for Wisconsin.  The Badgers had to replace both star Jon Leuer and fellow big man Keaton Nankivil.  The one person that we knew would be in the mix was Mike Bruesewitz and the one guy that had the biggest question mark was Jared Berggren.  He had played a very minor role over his first two seasons and we simply didn’t know how he’d respond to the increased minutes and the increased pressure of starting at the Big Ten level.  

So how did his first season as a starter turn out?  

Overall Stats: 

10.5ppg, 4.9rpg, 45.2%FG’s, 37.2%3pt FG’s, 60 blocks

Grades: 

Cole: A 

Andy: A 

– Berggren went from a complete bit player last year to the 3rd leading scorer and rebounder on this team.  His numbers increased dramatically and by the season’s end he was the one person the Badgers looked to on the inside.  However, he also was deadly from outside hitting 45 three pointers on the year, good for 3rd on the team.  All of his stats led him to be a consensus Honorable Mention All- Big Ten selection.  The one thing that prevented me from giving him an A + was that his shooting numbers and scoring dropped in conference play where he only averaged 8.9ppg and shot just 39% from the field.  He did however grab 5.1 rebounds a game, better than his overall average.  He also had trouble with fouls and that was never more evident than in the season ending loss to Syracuse in the Sweet 16.

Heading into his senior season he’ll now be counted on to be one of the rocks on the team as there will be no Jordan Taylor to lead the way in scoring.  The question he’s about to face is what can he do to improve on the numbers he put up and can he handle being one of the leaders of the team along with Ryan Evans and Mike Bruesewitz.