Even if you’re a bandwagon fan, we all need to back Wisconsin’s Koenig

Wisconsin may have fell short in the men’s NCAA national basketball championship but Indian Country came up victorious, as Wisconsin Badger Bronson Koenig became the first Native American to play in the finals.

Koenig, who hails from the Ho-Chunk Nation, contributed 10 points and four assists in the championship game where Duke defeated Wisconsin 68-63 on Monday night.

The Badgers walked away runner-ups of the national title but the impact Koenig left on Native people and the nation is one that deserves praise.

While Wisconsin slid their way past North Carolina, Arizona and avenged themselves with Kentucky in the Final Four, Koenig and the Badgers continued to add to their fan base and picked up a few bandwagon fans, including me.

I noticed Koenig last season when word of his heritage first seeped into mainstream media. I took a close look at him to see if I could see the Native side of him, and I did. It took another season and a starting role for many others to finally see that the 6-foot-4, 190-pound sophomore had deep Native ties.

Throughout the tournament I watched on social media as Native basketball fans took Koenig and the Badgers in as their own and while most were excited by his representing the people, others started throwing around the term “bandwagon”.

While cheering in Koenig’s favor throughout the tournament, others and I were referred to as having jumped the Wisconsin bandwagon. At first, I was slightly offended; no one wants to be known as a bandwagon fan.

But then another game rolled by and Koenig continued to show his magic on the court, and I realized if I’m a bandwagon fan then I’m going to be the best Wisconsin bandwagon fan around.

I had my own lifelong teams in the tournament but not another Native American to cheer on. I decided that I didn’t mind being a bandwagon fan if that meant I get to cheer on the only Native American player left in the tournament.

According to an NCAA report on race and gender demographics, in the 2013-14 season, just 14 men and 28 women identified as being American Indian/Alaskan Native basketball players out of a total of 10,393. Out of 4,900 Division I women’s basketball players only 28 were Native American. Within the last seven seasons, there was no more than 15 Division I men’s basketball players.

Less than one percent of college basketball players represent Native American people in a sport that we pride ourselves in.
Less than one percent. If you ask me we should all be Wisconsin bandwagon fans.

With a number so low, our Native athletes need all the support they can get.

Aside from his cultural background, Koenig has made a name for himself throughout college basketball.

Last season, when Wisconsin fell to Kentucky in the Final Four, Koenig scored 11 points in the first half alone. He was the back-up guard who got his time to shine earlier this year when Wisconsin senior and staring point guard Traevon Jackson broke his foot.

After starting in 18 games this season, he helped Wisconsin to a Big Ten title. He also went from averaging 4.4 points off the bench to an average of 12.2 points.

As the season progressed Koenig gained national attention as a clutch player and a young sophomore who proved to be more than capable to take the reigns as the leading point guard for the team.

The national attention also put the spotlight on his Native heritage. Mainstream media outlets shined light on his heritage and the Ho-Chunk people.
In one of those articles, Koenig refers to the Schimmel sisters, Shoni and Jude, who played for Louisville and gained national attention for their skill and Native roots. He recalled the 2011 documentary “Off the Rez” that follows Shoni Schimmel and her journey to play college basketball.

He said he remembered Indian Country’s reaction to their success and hoped that he would someday have the same.

“The amount of Native Americans that went to their games is insane,” Koenig said in the article. “Thousands of Native Americans. And they would drive from across the country just to see her play. So that was pretty cool to me. I’m hoping that maybe one day they could drive across the country to see me play.”

Some have and those who couldn’t make it, made it known that they would if they could.

Throughout the tournament and the finals, fans took photos of their television screens anytime Koenig appeared and shared it on social media with captions that read “Native Pride” or “My Native”.
Little did Indian Country know that Koenig took notice of his many new fans including the bandwagon fans, which he was more than happy to embrace.

In another article, Koenig said he was happy to have the support of his Native American fans because to him, Natives supporting Natives is how it should be.

“I’d always get random Facebook messages, tweets, stuff like that just from people I don’t even know,” he said in the article. “Some people I do know. Some people that claim to be my family. Because in the Native American way with family, I can’t tell you how many people have come up to me like, ‘Hey, I’m your brother, I’m your sister.’
They’ll be my cousins, but in the Native American way they’re my brothers and sister. That’s how tribes are. They take care of everyone. Like one big family.”

So next season, when Koenig and the Badgers return to the NCAA tournament, let’s welcome more bandwagon fans and support the first Native American to play in the men’s NCAA national basketball championship game.