Don’t Stop Believing

Even people who don’t particularly care about basketball were — they had to admit — pretty darned excited last spring when the Badgers made it to the Final Four and then to the national championship.

Patrick Herb

Patrick Herb ’01, the assistant director for athletic communications for UW–Madison men’s basketball, has chronicled the whole glorious adventure in Make ’Em Believe: The Inside Story of the Badgers’ Road to the 2015 Final Four (KCI Sports Publishing) — and just in time to honor head coach Bo Ryan’s final year with the team before retiring.

Make ’Em Believe’s foreword comes from National Player of the Year Frank (Francis III) Kaminsky ’15, and Ryan provided the afterword. The book gives Badger fans a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most successful basketball teams in UW history, playing in the university’s first NCAA national championship game since 1941. The players provided fans — and the nation — with so many memorable moments that made them “Midwestern nice” media darlings who have been talked about long after March Madness ended.

The book also comprises firsthand accounts from the players and Ryan on key moments of the season, recaps of all of the tournament games, player and team features, extended coverage of the Final Four victory over Kentucky and the national championship game against Duke, plus more than one hundred full-color photos — including many never-published-before gems that Herb took.

To receive a 20 percent discount, purchase the book at uwalumni.com/shop using promo code UWALUM.

Published in the Winter 2015 issue