Sam Hauser played varsity basketball all four seasons at Stevens Point Area High School (Stevens Point, WI) before moving on to Marquette University, where he played in 97 of 101 games in three seasons. Following his junior season with the Golden Eagles, a season in which he averaged 14.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game on his way to earning All Big East Second-Team honors, Hauser made the decision to transfer.

Transferring brought the 6’8”, 225-pound Hauser to Charlottesville and the University of Virginia, but because of Division 1 transfer rules he was forced to redshirt this past season. Sitting on the sidelines is not something the Wisconsin native was used to on the high school or college levels, so it was an adjustment.

“I haven’t had a year when I haven’t been able to play the game, so this is definitely a different experience, in a lot of ways,” Hauser said. “I’ve got aspirations to be a coach one day, so I kind of see it as me trying to be a little bit of a player/coach sometimes, to help out when needed. Just getting a different angle of things and kind of getting a feel for it from a different perspective is pretty good.”

Hauser provided his view from the sidelines of this year’s Cavalier squad, discussed what we can expect to see from him next season, and more in an interview with The Sabre.com during Virginia basketball’s March 9 media opportunity. He is the latest subject of our “Checking In” series, which also includes conversations with true freshmen Kadin Shedrick (click here) and Justin McKoy (click here).

CHECKING IN WITH SAM HAUSER

How has your experience at UVA been so far?

SAM HAUSER: “It’s been great. I can’t complain. It’s been a good year to work on my game, get better, get a feel for the system, the culture, Coach Bennett and his style of coaching. It’s gone way faster than I expected. Obviously the gamedays are tough just because I have to sit there and watch rather than play, but I think it’s been good overall.”

Hopefully you enjoy a lengthy playing career after college, but what have you learned here that will help you when you do become a coach?

SAM HAUSER: “Just understanding what they value the most and how they kind of handle certain situations. I think it’s pretty obvious you’ve got to come in with the right mindset every day and give it your all. The Five Pillars obviously are the main core values of this whole program and they coach by those every single day, and that’s something I’ve really learned throughout this year.”

Is there anything you’ve noticed in terms of in-game adjustments by Coach Bennett and his staff that will help you in your coaching career?

SAM HAUSER: “It’s kind of hard because I’m not in the coaches’ conversations, but you can kind of see there’s little tweaks here and there throughout the game. Like if something’s not working, we’ll tweak this. The results have shown, especially in the last stretch of the season, just how great of a coaching staff they are.”

What position have you played in practice? What role might we expect to see from you next season?

SAM HAUSER: “Throughout this whole year I’ve kind of played the 3/4, and that’s what I’ve kind of done throughout my college career to this point. I think you can expect that for next year. I don’t really think I’ll play the 2 or 1. I will if they need me

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