Most everyone knows the players are bigger and stronger. It also wouldn't be any trouble to pick the eight- or nine-man playing rotation if the regular season began today.

But nobody knows yet if bigger, stronger and deeper will mean the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team will be better this season. The Badgers are hoping to find some answers Wednesday when they face NCAA Division II Bemidji State in an exhibition game at the Kohl Center.

Associate head coach Greg Gard thinks the Badgers are better.

"The guys who got a taste of it last year are more confident," Gard said. "Keaton Nankivil, Jordan Taylor, Rob Wilson, they have taken it to another level. Jon Leuer has made a lot of things happen."

UW big men such as the 6-foot-8 Nankivil, 6-10 Leuer and 6-10 redshirt freshman Jared Berggren will be studied because they must fill a void left by last year's senior forwards, Joe Krabbenhoft and Marcus Landry.

"The effort is there. They are working on footwork, positioning, all those things. I've seen some improvement," UW coach Bo Ryan said.

What makes them a strong commodity is that they are interchangeable and do many things well.

"They can all shoot it, they are good passers," Gard said. "We'll see what happens when we get against some other opposition."

Gard said freshman Mike Bruesewitz could work his way into the rotation with more strong showings in practices and games.

"He has played his way into that consideration," said Gard, who added junior J.P. Gavinski and sophomore Ian Markolf also are getting long looks.

"It will be interesting how coach sorts it out when we go to the eighth, ninth and 10th man," Gard said.

Redshirt swingman Ryan Evans continues to have strong practices, too.

"He has to continue to do it every day in practice," Gard said. "Consistency in his game is one area where he has to improve."

Meanwhile, the Badgers have offered a scholarship to Duje Dukan, a 6-foot-8 senior swingman from Deerfield (Ill.) High School. Dukan has been compared to former UW player Zach Morley because of his shooting ability, basketball IQ and other intangibles.

Dukan, who is looking for a school that offers strong academics and an opportunity to grow his game, is considering New Mexico, Arizona State and Georgetown among others. He already has made an unofficial visit to the UW campus.

The Badgers offered him the scholarship that became available when Madison Memorial guard Vander Blue orally committed to Marquette.

Freshman Jeremy Glover is waiting to hear whether he won an appeal of his suspension by the UW Athletic Department for his role in a number of campus burglaries in September.

If Glover wins the appeal, it could open the door for his return to the Badgers as a practice-only player for this season. Glover, who has continued to attend classes at UW since his arrest, joined the program as a preferred walk-on guard from Haymarket, Va., when classes began in September.

Diamond Taylor, another freshman guard who also was arrested for his role in the burglaries, has left UW and enrolled at Southern Illinois.

Why Bemidji State?

The Beavers coach, Matt Bowen, is the son of former UW assistant and UW-River Falls coach Rick Bowen. Matt Bowen was a student manager at Indiana when Bob Knight was the coach. He also was an assistant coach under Homer Drew at Valparaiso. The Beavers are 19-63 the past three seasons.

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