Frank Kaminsky was among Wisconsin's three player representatives at Big Ten media day in Chicago on Thursday, joining Sam Dekker and Josh Gasser along with head coach Bo Ryan. The early theme around this Badgers team is how they've "all of a sudden" become one of the nation's elite teams, though as Ryan reminded reporters in his press conference, Wisconsin's been in the spotlight before.
But between Player of the Year talk for Kaminsky and Dekker, and just how close Wisconsin came to playing in the national title game last season, expectations are as high as they've been for this program in more than a decade, if not ever. Kaminsky was named the conference's preseason Player of the Year on Thursday, only heightening the expectations for his senior season.
The video -- shot by B5Q's Sam Brief -- above has his full quotes. Sam will follow with more throughout the day, so be sure to check back here and follow him on Twitter @sambrief.
"It's not much of a distraction," Kaminsky said. "I don't really care about that stuff. I just want to win; that's why I came back to to Wisconsin for my senior year. To win basketball games. I don't want to really think about any individual achievements because I'm more concerned with what our team's going to do this season."
"To be so close last year and not come away with a nation title gives us a sour taste in our mouth going into this season. We've got a chip on our shoulders. We want to get back to there, but it comes one game at a time. It's a process, it's not just going to happen overnight. We all know we need to prepare while we can for a long season. When the tournament comes, we'll be ready."