Men’s basketball head coach Greg Kampe shouldn’t have trouble motivating any of his players for his team’s next game against the University of Wisconsin.

Following Saturday’s shocking 81-77 defeat at the hands of Eastern Michigan, the Grizzlies, who were much balleyhooed coming into the season, must be eager to justify their lofty preseason expectations against a brand-name opponent on national television.

However, for Will Hudson, the showdown against the Badgers isn’t just important, it’s personal.

The 6-9 junior starting at power forward is a born-and-bred Badger. He grew up five minutes from campus in Madison, the capital of Wisconsin, and there is reason to believe this homecoming has a deeper meaning to him than it would to most players.

In uniform, Hudson proudly expresses his affection for the Dairy State in the form of a tattoo located on his left shoulder. The tattoo displays an outline of Wisconsin as it would appear on a map with the words “State of” and “Mind” hovering along the northern and southern borders.

Not surprisingly, Hudson has deep-rooted and persisting allegiances to his hometown university.

“Growing up, I was a pretty big Badger fan, you know, catching all the football games,” Hudson said. “The high school I went to was pretty much just a feeder right into it, so I still know a lot of people up there.”

Hudson said his dreams of donning the cardinal red and white Badger uniform persisted well into high school when he even got a few letters of interest from head coach Bo Ryan and staff. However, Wisconsin rarely expressed serious interest in Hudson, and he was forced to weigh humbler options.

Hudson had scholarship offers from in-state Division I programs Wisconsin-Green Bay and Wisconsin-Milwaukee, among other out-of-state offers, but said he chose Oakland University primarily because of its “family atmosphere,” a sentiment he reinforced when describing his excitement for the game.

“It gives me extra motivation just getting to play in front of my family, because I don’t get a lot of opportunities to do that,” Hudson said. “This is a chance to go into my hometown with my team, all my brothers, and show them what we’ve been working for.”

The scheduling of this game was not a coincidence. Kampe has made a custom of scheduling non-conference games against schools near the areas his out-of-state recruits come from.

“When we were recruiting him, we told him we would either get him home to face Wisconsin or Marquette, and fortunately, we were able to get the Wisconsin game,” Kampe said. “We wanted to do it later in his career so his friends and family could actually see him when he’s going to get a lot of playing time. If we took him there as a freshman, he probably wouldn’t get to play much.”

Kampe’s promise, Hudson said, was a benefit that made OU an even more appealing destination.

“That wasn’t the reason I came here, but it was definitely a positive,” Hudson said. “Coming out to a program where I could go to my hometown and get a chance to knock off a big team, it’s pretty cool.”

With a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, however, comes the possibility of proportionate anxiety. Hudson said the thought of getting nervous makes him a little nervous.

“That’s crossed my mind a couple times before,” Hudson admitted. “I just need to rise to that pressure. There’s going to be pressure coming to my hometown and having all those wild fans in the arena. I hope I’ll just have that excited feeling and not that fear. I think I’ve learned to let that go.”

In spite of the immense pressure Hudson might feel, Kampe said he believes he has the perfect antidote to any potential anxiety.

“I’ll scream at him a lot, so that will bring him back into reality,” Kampe said jokingly. “As soon as that opening jump goes, it’s pretty much the red shirts against the black shirts. We’ll play as hard as we can, and I’m sure Will will play well.”

Kampe said past results of players making homecoming trips have been mixed.

“We’ve had some guys play real well, and we’ve had some guys play real badly because they’ve wanted to play real well.”