Sports celebrities walk the blue carpet at Wisconsin Sports Awards, Badgers are "Team of the Year"

KOHLER (WITI) -- It is not easy to get the likes of Herbert Kohler, Barry Alvarez, Jason Kidd and Rob Jeter in one place at the same time, but those stars were out Thursday night, May 7th -- and they had company at the Wisconsin Sports Awards program.

This year, the Wisconsin Sports Awards were held at The Beacon in Kohler -- a different venue and a different dynamic but the same event. If you're a celebrity when you put your foot on the blue carpet, you know the crowd is waiting for you.

Nigel Hayes

"I mean, I think it's nice. I consider myself, you know, an average, decent at best basketball player, and people want me to come and do all these things," Badgers forward Nigel Hayes said.

"First of all we're here in Kohler. I got friends. Well, I didn't know they were my friends until they called me and said 'hey can you get me on Whistling Straits?'" Badgers Head Coach Bo Ryan said.

Bo Ryan

"It's always cool. I mean, it's just an honor to receive all these honors," Arike Ogumbawale said.

"It's been an historic year (in Wisconsin sports)," UW-Milwaukee basketball coach Rob Jeter said.

"Never gets old to win. Never gets old to have success," University of Wisconsin-Madison Athletic Director Barry Alvarez said.

"You know, I think that anytime that you can be around people that have success -- and that's what this is all about -- successful people, and the old saying that success breeds success, so it's where you want to be," Milwaukee Bucks General Manager John Hammond said.

Sam Dekker

"You're looking at the performances of Wisconsin sports. There were a lot of bright spots," Milwaukee Bucks Head Coach Jason Kidd said.

Jason Kidd

"I love it! This is I think the fourth go around. I'm a veteran at this now," former Badgers forward Sam Dekker said.

"It's always fun to have a night like this to kind of relax a little bit in life," Jeter said.

"I just thought it was an excuse for getting people together!" Bo Ryan said.

It was a big night Thursday night for the Wisconsin Badgers. The men's basketball team walked away with the "Team of the Year" award -- while former Wisconsin Badgers running back Melvin Gordon was named "College Athlete of the Year."

Melvin Gordon