Taking a look back at the 1941 Badgers, the last Wisconsin team to win a national championship

INDIANAPOLIS (WITI) -- The Wisconsin Badgers basketball team is poised to make history for the first time in 74 years. That's how long it's been since Wisconsin won a national championship. On Monday night, April 6th, the Badgers will try again, as they face the Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA Tournament's championship game.

A national championship has been a long time coming for the Badgers, and as a new generation is inspired by the team, we've learned the 1941 team was inspiring as well.

"Kids look up to that type of stuff. It makes you want to go out and be like them," Ronald Reagan High School senior Voshon Jackson said.

Before the 2015 Badgers, there was a generation inspired by the 1941 Badgers -- the only Wisconsin men's basketball team to win a national championship.

"Back then the game was so much slower and so different than what it is today," Buzz Englund said.

Gene Englund

In Kenosha, Englund has a collection of newspaper clippings tracking the basketball career of Gene Englund.

"Gene`s the one in the middle with the ball. He`s the captain. Gene`s my cousin, even though he was quite a few years older than I was," Englund said.

In 1941, the All-American helped lead his team to a 39-34 victory over Washington State.

"He was 6`6`` and at that time he could still play center, and he was the center," Englund said.

The game is seen in video uploaded to YouTube by Washington State Athletics a few years ago. Like others on his team, Gene Englund's life dramatically changed in the years after the championship.

"You know, World War II," Englund said.

Gene Englund traded in his basketball uniform for a Navy uniform.

"Time out for service in the Navy. He played with the Celtics, retired from active play and became an official for the NBA," Englund said.

Now, the big question is: Will the 2015 Badgers join the 1941 Badgers in the history books?

"If we win, I don`t know what Wisconsin gonna do. They gonna be the happiest state in the world," Jackson said.

Gene Englund was in the first class inducted in to the Kenosha Unified School District's Athletic Hall of Fame.

As an adult, he was a fixture in the Oshkosh community.

He died at the age of 78.

The Badgers face the Duke Blue Devils Monday night, April 6th at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.