Badgers honor the 'architect' of the Kohl Center -- Herb Kohl

MADISON – Herb Kohl’s courtside seats were unoccupied but not quite empty Tuesday night.

In one seat at the Kohl Center was a Wisconsin basketball jersey, adorned with the name Kohl and the number 98.

The 98 represented the first game played at the Kohl Center – UW’s 76-57 victory over Penn State on Jan. 14, 1998.

In the other seat, roses.

“We’re obviously not sitting in this building tonight if not for Herb Kohl,” UW coach Greg Gard said Tuesday night after his team’s 83-72 victory over Iowa.

Kohl, who graduated from UW in 1956, kept the Milwaukee Bucks from leaving town and served four terms as a U.S. senator, passed away on Dec. 27. He was 88.

Tuesday was UW’s first game since his passing.

If not for the work – and financial contributions of Kohl and others – the Kohl Center might never have been built.

“We’re very fortunate,” Gard said, “and we owe him forever a debt of gratitude for his vision and his want to help this athletic department and get this project off the ground.

“It was a huge help to this program to grow it…In order to stay relevant and take the jump this program did…that allowed us to compete nationally from a recruiting standpoint.”

UW officials honored Kohl before the game Tuesday and held a moment of silence.

Gard remembered that despite his wealth and high profile, Kohl interacted with others as if he was a commoner.

“He was so giving,” Gard said. “But for a man that was a senator and had the financial wealth that he had, you would never know it by talking to him.

“The times I’ve spent with him when he came here for games…really humble. Just a very giving heart.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW fans remember Herb Kohl, who passed away last month