Whether he’s slamming down put-back dunks, drawing charges, or hitting threes, Wisconsin guard Zak Showalter has made a name for himself already on this year’s Badgers team.
A Germantown, WI native, Showalter has seen Wisconsin’s success in the past three seasons, but mainly from the bench. He came on as a walk-on in 2012, with limited expectations, but always had goals along the way to go from getting a scholarship, to getting minutes, and to starting. Showalter did play limited, but key minutes last season to bring energy in the NCAA Tournament, but his role on the team was very unknown once freshman year roommate Sam Dekker, reigning Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky, Josh “Captain America” Gasser, the Sacramento Kings’ Duje Dukan, and longtime Badgers point guard Traevon Jackson left.
Over the summer, Showalter worked endlessly on his three-point shot, knowing that he would have to bring more offensively to get the starting job he was aiming for. “Showy” earned the starting 2-guard role alongside Bronson Koenig in the backcourt, and he’s averaged 8.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, and a 1.58 assist to turnover ratio through the team’s first eight games. But, his most impressive statistic? Showalter has drawn 9 offensive fouls thus far this season.
“I just think it’s all instincts…I’ve got a feel for help-side defense, and knowing kinda how to read the guy,” Showalter told me after asking to explain to me his knack for drawing charges. “I’ve gotten some calls that have helped my teammates in big spots.” Showy even corrected me when I asked about the charges, as I was unaware that he actually drew three offensive fouls against Syracuse, not two: “I think it’s nine now, someone told me it’s nine.”
There’s no doubt that Showalter has emulated his game after fellow former WIAA North Shore Conference product Josh Gasser with leadership, three-point shooting, and of course, the charges. The national media always refers to Showalter as “Gasser 2.0,” as they often search for any information on Showalter early in the season. After a few laughs about his comparisons to Gasser, Showalter was sincere in saying how much the Gasser comparisons mean to him: “I try to do all of the things that Josh did. Obviously, he was so good at doing so many things. To be discussed with him is a compliment to me. I appreciate that label; I’m not going to deny that ever. If I can keep doing those things, he won a lot of games here, and hopefully it can translate to some more wins for us.”
It also helps that Showalter’s father, Steve Showalter, led Germantown High School to three straight Division I WIAA state championships as head coach. This year happens to be Papa Showalter’s first year not coaching at Germantown (he’s now an assistant at Lindenwood University), but it’s given him more opportunities to watch his son play. “He definitely appreciates being able to watch a couple more…He’ll give me some tips and tell me some things to focus on,” the young Showalter told me.
Steve Showalter’s college coach was none other than Bo Ryan at UW-Platteville, as Ryan has coached both Showalters 30 years apart. Zak explained the importance of Ryan and his coaching staff to his success: “One thing is that if you just stick and listen to what they’re saying, what Coach Ryan is trying to tell you, you’re going to win games. They always say they have over 100 years of experience coaching this game, so when you got guys that much knowledge for the game you just gotta to everything they say and trust in what they’re doing, and it will all work out.”
Last week, I asked Showalter if he had any idea of what the team’s identity was at that point. He answered honestly saying, “I don’t know if we will even know by the end of this season.” I prompted him with the same question Thursday, and this time he had an answer: “I think we’re going to have to scrap. I think that’s going to have to be our identity. We got a lot of offensive boards and even though we had some turnovers, we found a way to get things done.” Josh Gasser would be proud.
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