Frank Kaminsky writes emotional farewell letter to Wisconsin fans

Frank Kaminsky really did make the most of his time in Madison, improving from an afterthought at the end of the bench to the national player of the year, and projecting as a fringe lottery pick in June's NBA draft.

After guiding the Badgers to back-to-back appearances in the Final Four - including an appearance in the national title game this past March - Kaminsky posted a farewell letter to the fans in Wisconsin on his blog, The Moose Basketball.

Here's an excerpt:

When I got to Wisconsin I was a frail kid with lofty dreams who wanted to achieve something great. I realized at the time that it wasn't going to happen immediately for me. It would take time to get where I wanted to be, but I had no clue how hard the process would be. I struggled through my freshman year. I fell behind in school, and in basketball. I was constantly frustrated and didn't know what it took to succeed. I started thinking that Wisconsin was as good as it was gonna get for me. I started believing that I was not good enough, not smart enough, and didn't have what it took to be great. Honestly, I needed to do a lot (of) maturing. I hit a point where I was tired of feeling sorry for myself. That's when I made a promise to myself that I would work as hard as I could and find out how much I could accomplish.

Kaminsky was a three-star recruit when he arrived in Madison, and averaged less than nine minutes per game in his first two seasons as a Badger. He averaged 16.4 points and 7.3 rebounds in his final two seasons at Wisconsin.