Basketball comes naturally to Wisconsin's quick-study cager

About six years ago, Wisconsin point guard Hennssy Auriantal picked up a basketball for the first time.

That's all. About six years. The average college basketball player had a mini-ball and net in his cradle, while posters of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson hung from their baby blue wallpaper.

But not Auriantal. He didn't play driveway basketball when he was younger. He wasn't captain of his junior high school basketball team. Auriantal was just an average kid growing up on the city streets of Montreal.

But that quickly changed.

Auriantal didn't play much basketball, but like much of America's youth, his idol did. Auriantal chuckles when he talks about his favorite player. The pictures immediately dance in his head -- the patented crossover, the no-look dish, the 3-pointer from the left corner and the two NBA rings that sit on Isiah Thomas' fingers.

It wasn't long before Auriantal quit idolizing Thomas and started emulating him. He didn't have all the necessary skills his peers already developed, but he had a lot of speed, a pair of quick hands, a big heart and -- most importantly -- a dream to be like Thomas.

"He really amazed me," Auriantal said. "I wanted to be like him."

So much that he incessantly practiced his dribble and transition game. Run and gun was the name of his game. Auriantal joined a club basketball program, and the first thing his coach did was stick a ball in his hands and offer a few words of encouragement.

"He said dribble the ball every day," Auriantal recalled.

So that's exactly what Auriantal did. Dribbling everywhere he went, Auriantal practiced his crossover, left-hand dribble and continued to run and gun. By his junior year, his skills improved enough for him and his brothers to pioneer the basketball program at his high school, which didn't have a team. Suddenly, the Auriantals took a high school without a team to championships.

Auriantal's game improved so quickly recruiters from Canada's top colleges came knocking on his door. Montreal's Dawson College, a Canadian prep school, landed the budding star after a year of heavy recruiting. After Dawson coach Olga Hrycak signed Auriantal, she knew she had a star.

"He said, 'Coach, whatever it takes to be the best, I've got to go for it,' " Hrycak recalled.

And for Dawson, the best was yet to come.

When Auriantal was through at Dawson, he was a first-team all-Canada selection, led the league in scoring at 26.7 points per game, averaged six assists and five steals and three rebounds per contest and was named two-time team MVP in his three years at Dawson.

But Auriantal didn't let stardom go to his head. Instead, he kept an ego as small as his idol, Thomas.

"He's a humble guy," said John Davidson, a coordinator of athletics at Dawson. "He's the type of guy you want 15 players of on your team, but obviously you can't and don't get. He was very popular and well-liked."

His success at Dawson drew attention from colleges in the United States, and Auriantal was eager to play at a more competitive level.

Wisconsin coach Stan Van Gundy was the only Big Ten coach to recruit the point guard and, fittingly, Wisconsin was the only school recruiting Auriantal that offered his curriculum choice of secondary education.

Van Gundy was Auriantal's prototype coach -- he stressed the run-and-gun offense and transition basketball -- the style Auriantal played his entire life. It is the same style that allowed him to pour in 20 to 25 points a night. Auriantal was accustomed to getting his points off steals and quick transition layups. But Van Gundy didn't last at Wisconsin long enough to see Auriantal become a Badger. Last season was Auriantal's first as a Badger, just as it was coach Dick Bennett's.

Bennett's disciplined, half-court offense was the antithesis of Auriantal's style, and it showed. Auriantal started off slow, using his lightning quick defense to keep him in the game. But his struggle to shoot well kept him on the bench more than he liked.

Looking back, Auriantal, now a sophomore, knows the change in style was for the better.

"If you are a good basketball player, you should be able to play in any system," Auriantal said. "It was a learning process for me. It was a tough adjustment for me this year. Yes, it's frustrating. But at the same time, I'm thankful."

Auriantal is already showing signs he can play solid basketball in a half-court system. Once again, he's happy with his life and happy to be improving with each game.

The stage seems somewhat set for Auriantal. He should start next season, develop the necessary jump shot and become one of the conference's elite point guards. And maybe after his Badger career winds down, the Toronto Raptors will select him on draft day. He'll play for general manager and idol Isiah Thomas in his home country.

It will take a lot of improvement within the next three years. But look what he accomplished in six.