Uthoff's Choice: Wisconsin

Cedar Rapids' rising star Jarrod Uthoff finally decided tonight that he needed to leave the comfort of home in Iowa to find a perennial winner whose style fit his strengths, choosing Bo Ryan's Badgers instead of the home state Hawkeyes, Cyclones or Panthers.

And then Uthoff hopped on a plane at the Eastern Iowa Airport to skip town, just to be safe.

Okay, that's not entirely fair. Uthoff is heading to Las Vegas to hoop with his Iowa Barnstormers AAU team. But this undoubtedly will give Iowa fans flashbacks to Jason Bohannon choosing Wisconsin over his dad's alma mater. Except in this case, Iowa State and Northern Iowa are probably just as disappointed too. All three programs held a wild card in their proximity to Uthoff's home town -- he acknowledged all along that distance would be a factor in his decision. I guess the three-hour drive to Madison is manageable.

Iowa appeared to have a great chance at Uthoff in recent days as a centerpiece of its rebuilding efforts under new coach Fran McCaffery. Uthoff, an all-state pick last season, never tipped his hand during this process however.

Uthoff's commitment closes the book on UW's 2011 impressive recruiting class. In true Bo style, the group is well-rounded, but not highly-rated nationally. The skinny 6'8" senior-to-be at Cedar Rapids Jefferson can fill either forward spot next to PF/C Frank Kaminsky, while the class' backcourt is set with George Marshall and Traevon Jackson. Though Uthoff's stock just recently took off this summer, he could wind up as the best-rated prospect of the four.

Brust's Path To The Badgers Looks Clear

A Big Ten faculty committee sided with Wisconsin Friday morning and will grant a waiver to former Iowa recruit Ben Brust to allow him to receive an athletic scholarship at another school within the conference.

Based on the fact that Wisconsin formally went to bat for Brust in a second appeal, the Badgers are the odds-on favorite to sign the 6'2" guard from Mundelein (Ill.) High School before the spring signing period concludes May 19. Brust appears to be the most viable option to replace Ian Markolf on the roster, which would alleviate some of the depth concerns at guard next year caused by graduation and dismissals.

Iowa released Brust from his Letter of Intent without restriction back on April 12, after hiring new head coach Fran McCaffery to replace the ousted Todd Lickliter. Scholarship offers poured in from California to Boston College, but Big Ten programs like Iowa, Wisconsin and Northwestern continued to show varied amounts of interest in Brust, pending the interpretation the existing rule against transferring within the conference.

Brust was originally denied in the matter by the Big Ten's Academics and Eligibility Subcommittee.

Senior Night

Wisconsin seniors Jason Bohannon and Trevon Hughes have a chance to finish the season with the most career wins of any Badgers. It will take four more victories and the task continues tonight against Iowa on Senior Night.

It is ironic that they face the Hawkeyes in their final home game since Bohannon is practically the prodigal son of Iowa basketball and Iowa was the other school on Hughes' final list as well. The butterfly effect would tell us that the quality of Iowa basketball could be substantially different today if Iowa had signed this pair.

Steve Alford and Iowa were fresh off a second-place Big Ten finish and a tournament title that year. The Hawkeyes signed a 5-man class, two being JUCOs, but only one was a guard. Needless to say, Iowa would have loved to have Pop or J-Bo or both. Could that have kept Alford from getting canned? Perhaps not. But the Todd Lickliter era would have been completely different and Wisconsin would have been worse off, especially last season.

The reality is the the power has shifted toward Madison -- Bo Ryan and his senior guards are a big reason why.

Hughes has always been one of my favorite Badgers, despite his flaws and I've enjoyed watching him grow as a leader on this team. Bohannon, on the other hand, has earned a ton of respect just this year and is currently playing the best basketball of anyone on the team. J-Bo will never light the room with a great interview like Hughes might, but both players have come up big in the clutch in their final season together.

A win would assure Wisconsin the #4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, now that Illinois has dropped to 10-7 in conference. The Buckeyes wrapped up a share of the title Tuesday in its final league contest, officially killing UW's title hopes.

On the Stove Top: 3/26

Six members of the Wisconsin men's basketball team were named Academic All-Big Ten this week: Joe Krabbenhoft, Jon Leuer, Tim Jarmusz, Kevin Gullikson, Morris Cain and Brett Valentyn. That's four rotation players and three non-walkons. Nice job.

Only days earlier, the wide range of graduation rates among this year's NCAA tournament participants was also released. Connecticut came in at a sterling 33 percent. Ouch. On average, though, the Academic Progress Rates are up across the board, which are the statistics that dictate the loss of scholarships for programs who are not graduating players.

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After only two seasons, Iowa's rebuilding project under coach Todd Lickliter is collapsing from within. As many as four players may transfer in the offseason, in addition to 2010 recruit Chanse Creekmur decommitting. The fans who still care are calling for Lickliter's head.

Losing Jake Kelly would be a huge blow. Kelly nearly single-handedly kept the Hawkeyes competitive when he switched over to point guard. He was one of the Big Ten's rising stars and if/when he winds up at Indiana State, the conference as a whole suffers. The possible defection of two more guards and a fourth big body makes Iowa the new conference doormat for the foreseeable future. Good for opponents' records? Yes. Good for league quality? No.

I would argue that Creekmur changing his mind ranks as the second biggest loss. Iowa needs to bring in a higher level of talent to be more competitive and this is a huge red flag to all potential recruits.

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With Iowa City devolving into a madhouse, Indiana moves up half a notch by default. Since coach Tom Crean had already signed more new players (6) for next season than he had room for, apparently it was time to convince one of his existing players to transfer. Again.

The winner was Malik Story, a freshman guard who played in all 31 games this year, averaging 6 pts & 2 rebs in 18 min/g. Story shot a horrible percentage and was the fifth guard in a rotation that will be adding two or three more Top 100 prospects to the backcourt.

Just in case Story did not accept his new mission, two possible backup plans may have been for Georgetown transfer Jeremiah Rivers to pay his own way or to strip big man project Tijan Jobe of his free ride after one year. See, that's why taking away J.P. Gavinski's scholarship would be a bad idea, image-wise. Bo Ryan would be copying Crean.

Thad Matta always has the opposite problem at Ohio State. Now that frosh B.J. Mullens has officially thrown his hat into the NBA Draft ring, Matta will need to scramble to find a big body to comprise his previously empty 2009 recruiting class. Until now, the Buckeyes had no available scholarships. Although Matta has the ability to pull it off, the pickins' are slim these days. So Ohio State may bank it for 2010 and continue to load up one of the greatest recruiting classes in history: a Buckeye six-pack?

Though Ohio State will lack depth in the frontcourt, their powerful perimeter game should keep them in the upper half of the Big Ten next season. Evan Turner, William Buford, Jon Diebler all have one more season under their belts and David Lighty will return from injury.

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Wisconsin recruit Mike Bruesewitz saw his prep career come to an unexpected end on Wednesday as Bloomington Jefferson upset Henry Sibley in the Class 4A quarterfinals, 60-56. Though Bruiser had another nice game (21 pts, 16 rebs), he was tied up by a defender with a chance to tie the game in the final minute and deferred to his cold-shooting guards on the final meaningful possession.

The Warrior's only outside threat, Maurice Hernandez, played on a badly injured ankle and shot only 1-of-11 behind the arc, making the shocking loss a bit more understandable. Even Bruesewitz was not quite 100% physically, according to his father. It seemed like a foregone conclusion to everyone that Sibley would earn that anticipated rematch with Hopkins. Welcome to the real world kids ... I feel for ya.

Though Bruesewitz will not take any consolation in his individual accolades, he was named the Star Tribune's Metro Player of the Year and also succeeded Jordan Taylor as Minnesota's Gatorade Player of the Year. Germantown's Ben Averkamp won the Gatorade award for Wisconsin.

Hawkeye Down

Iowa certainly delivered one of the lowest moments of Wisconsin's season in Iowa City, but the Badgers shot down the Hawkeyes for a measure of payback on Wednesday night. Wisconsin's upperclassmen took turns picking apart the Iowa defense, leading to an enjoyable 69-52 win.

Statistically Wisconsin led Iowa in every traditional category, including all three shooting percentage stats. The team was especially effective converting buckets after Iowa turnovers. [box score] And the best part about watching it from the comfort of my own home was that the totally worthless "stand up old people" chant by the student section was barely audible!

In the first half, the junior back court of Jason Bohannon and Trevon Hughes combined for 21 of the team's 36 points on a mercurial 8-of-13 shooting from the field (3-of-4 on treys) and five assists. Hughes finished with 6 assists, 2 steals and only 1 TO. Hard to believe, but the assist total was a career-high for Pop. Bohannon, on the other hand, has now nailed 14-of-19 (73.6%) from 3-point land in the last four games. Keep your fingers crossed for more of that.

After the halftime break, Marcus Landry came to life and Joe Krabbenhoft continued to put in a full day's work. The senior forwards totaled 16 of UW's 33 second-half points. Landry surpassed the 1,000-point plateau for his career, but it was Krabby's aggressiveness on offense that helped subdue any hopes Iowa had of pulling an upset. He finished with a team-high 16 points.

Jon Leuer looked really comfortable working the glass against Iowa's big men and grabbed eight rebounds.

Iowa seems to have uncovered a really nice player in sophomore Jake Kelly. Kelly is extremely quick with the ball; he shook Hughes on a few occasions. His 17 points were the bright spot for Todd Lickliter's crew.

Yesterday, the Wisconsin State Journal had a nice article on the progress made by the fifth upperclassmen in Bo Ryan's rotation: Kevin Gullikson. With the return of Keaton Nankivil, Gully is bound to see a decrease in minutes. However, unless his superior post entry passing ability magically transfers to someone else, Gullikson will still have a place on the floor from time to time.

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I had to chuckle at a few whistles in this game. Two of Jordan Taylor's fouls were complete and utter whiffs by the officials. The first was when one of the Hawkeyes stumbled after getting an offensive rebound and JT just happened to be in the vicinity. The second time, Taylor was playing defense on a drive but did not appear to even touch the player in question. He left the floor amazed that he had to explain himself to Greg Gard.

In Iowa's defense, when Kelly (or was it Gatens?) dove to the floor to save the ball after it was stripped by Krabbenhoft he never hit touched the end line. The referee had a different idea.

Wisconsin's Basketball Rivals

It's "Rivalry Week" according to ESPN. All that really means is that Duke is playing North Carolina this week. Wisconsin happens to be hosting Iowa, a border rival, on Wednesday night.

While I don't put much stock in the Worldwide Leader's labels, I would consider the Hawkeyes decent rivals. Iowa has been within two spots of Wisconsin in the final Big Ten standings six of the last 10 seasons. Though it has not won the regular season Big Ten title in that span, Iowa's program has some history. These two teams have also shared some memorable Big Ten Tournament matches. Yet, despite upsetting Wisconsin earlier this year, Iowa has not been keeping up its end of the deal lately in this rivalry.

Only four teams have accounted for 13 of the 14 Big Ten champions in the last decade -- Illinois (4), Michigan State (3), Ohio State (3) and Wisconsin (3). Indiana was a part of the four-way tie in 2001-02. Because the Badgers have been so successful under Bo Ryan, it has been natural for Wisconsin's games with conference heavyweights like Michigan State and Illinois to take on more meaning to fans and players ... and certain coaches too.

The two biggest ingredients in a rivalry are that the games always matter and the teams are close in proximity. When it comes to conference rivals, I automatically discard five teams (Penn State, Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern and Michigan) which have not sustained the same level of success as UW. These contests simply have not been meaningful as often when you are talking about title chases. Some of these teams also have more natural rivalries of their own due to location.

Even though Wisconsin and Ohio State are two of the stronger programs in the league, Ohio State is just far enough away that any bad blood that develops simmers down in between games. The recruiting turf rarely overlaps and the fan bases do not deal with each other on a day-to-day basis. Conversely, Wisconsin shares its longest border with Minnesota and the Gophers will always be a big rival in most sports, so you have to throw them into the mix for "top rivalry." With the resurgence under Tubby Smith, Minnesota gets the nod over both Iowa and Ohio State. For the foreseeable, this will be a "homecoming" game for the handful of Badgers plucked from Minnesota.

That leaves Illinois and Michigan State. I have said many times that I look forward to the games with Michigan State the most. Since rivalries are based on a lot of emotion anyway, I am sticking with mine. Depending on what course the programs take over the next 10 years, though, I think the Illini are a better bet to remain a long-term rival. Thus, I consider Illinois to be Wisconsin's "Rival 1B". It is interesting to look back on the ebb and flow in the intensity of the competition between the Badgers and some of their Big Ten neighbors.

With that in mind, Marquette has to be considered Wisconsin's number one basketball rival. The public vs. private institution juxtaposition fuels spirited debates that boil over into hatred. Both schools are drawing form the same recruiting base and even have maintained contrasting playing styles lately, which only drives the intense "my dad can beat up your dad" pride on both sides even further. Whether the teams are both nationally ranked or not, this game always matters, at least to people in the state. And it will always be that way. Plus, without a football team, the Marquette community has to hold the annual clash in high regard.

Ranking UW's conference rivalries:
1. Michigan State
2. Illinois
3. Minnesota
4. Iowa
5. Ohio State
6. Purdue
7. Northwestern
8. Michigan
9. Indiana
10. Penn State

2007 Big Ten/ACC Challenge

Less than 24 hours until tip-off: No. 7 vs. No. 20

Wisconsin fans have to wait one more day to lock horns with one of the most storied college basketball programs ever, but this year's Big Ten/ACC Challenge began tonight. It got off to a pretty rough start, I might add, with Iowa dropping a dreadful game at home to Wake Forest. The Hawkeyes missed 11 of their 18 free throw attempts, halting any possible comeback from the 16-point halftime deficit.

The ACC teams get four out of five at home tomorrow night. Unfortunately, the one Big Ten host is Indiana, already a heavy favorite versus Georgia Tech. Before I prognosticate, keep in mind that the Big Ten has never won this challenge. No matter how confident I am going into the week, the ACC always wins the majority of the swing games and pulls a minor upset or two. The fact that I have little hope for the conference to reverse the trend this year can only mean good things.

The one game that I think might surprise some people starts at 6:30 CST. Is the Tubby revolution for real in Minnesota? The Gophers will have to go on the road to prove it, but Florida State is a beatable foe.

As for Wisconsin ... coming into the season, I really liked how the Badgers matched up with the Devils. I would have predicted a victory in October. However, after getting to see each team play a couple of times, I give Duke the edge by virtue of the greatest home court advantage in the nation.

If I had seen a little more out of Landry, Butch and the freshman so far, I would be more at ease. Landry still could have a breakout game, though, because he will be challenged from the start. He cannot disappear. I really want to see how he responds on both ends of the court to facing a younger player like Kyle Singler. A big game from Landry gives UW a good chance at winning.

As I see it, Duke perimeter players have a distinct advantage as shooters and playmakers, with Hughes being an exception. Pop will definitely eat up Greg Paulus. Duke is playing more aggressively and explosively, however, so Hughes has to be focused from the onset and avoid getting rattled by pressure and his first road test of the year. This should be his coming out party nationally, possibly in the same way that Tucker dominated Pittsburgh last season. The game is one of two gems in ESPN's challenge lineup, so it doubles as a good recruiting tool for Bucky.

Wisconsin cannot afford to get behind by very much at any point. The bottom line is that every Badger needs to play well to pick up the victory in a hostile environment against Duke. As I've said before, I think Michael Flowers will be the catalyst. Can he guard Gerald Henderson or DeMarcus Nelson and still be efficient offensively? He hasn't been very effective for a full game yet.

But I'm contradicting myself anyway and picking Wisconsin to beat the Evil Empire out of principle. Counting the Iowa game, I see the Big Ten posting a 4-7 record and retreating to the Midwest with its tail between its legs yet again. *Sigh* ...

(predicted winners in bold)
Wake Forest @ Iowa - LOSS
Georgia Tech @ (15)Indiana
Northwestern @ Virginia
Minnesota @ Florida St.
(20)Wisconsin @ (7)Duke
Purdue @ (18)Clemson
North Carolina St. @ (13)Michigan St.
Boston College @ Michigan
Illinois @ Maryland
(2)North Carolina @ Ohio St.
Virginia Tech @ Penn St.

Yes, that's the road teams winning 5 of 10 ...

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Not sure what ultra-young players are grabbing the UW staff's attention recruiting-wise, but a couple of youngsters are already making their mark for Milwaukee Bay View. Freshmen Darnell Harris is a 6'6" forward who teamed with Johnnie Lacy to beat defending champion Oshkosh West last week.

Coaching Carousel Just Beginning

It's going to be an interesting off-season in the Big Ten. Michigan and Minnesota each need a new coach, and now Iowa will reportedly be looking for one as well.

The Hawkeyes have been decent, tying for fourth place in the Big Ten this season and making several NCAA tournament fields under Steve Alford. More than failing as a basketball coach, however, Alford failed as a representative of the university, alienating alumni and recruits alike with his demeanor and inflated self-worth.

Bo and his staff might be able to make major inroads with some out of state talent while uncertainty runs amok at state schools to the west, southwest and across Lake Michigan. The shame is that if Iowa hires the right replacement, Wisconsin might not be able to plunder the state's best player again (good call J-Bo!). Much like Barry Alvarez did when he took over the Badger football program, the new coach of any of these downtrodden teams will likely "build a wall around the state" to keep the best talent from signing elsewhere.

On the bright side, the talent pool seems pretty thin anyway, so UW would not be missing out on much if that were to happen. In addition to Bohannon, Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich jump out as recent high school stars who were too good for the black and yellow britches during Alford's tenure. Iowa was able to keep guys like Greg Brunner and Jeff Horner over that same span (Haluska originally went to Iowa State). Do the math. Iowa actually has more talent emerging from its thriving junior college scene. Indian Hills CC is the D-1 factory where the Badgers plucked Zach Morley from and where former Madison LaFollette star David DuBois transferred into from Idaho.

Even if Iowa's talent is not the greatest, getting another good coach (or three) in the Big Ten for next season will only help prepare UW for tournament time. Just don't take Bo Ryan for granted.

Good stuff:
- Ego? The O.J. Mayo-to-USC Story, courtesy of the NY Times
- Wisconsin's 2007 All-State Boys Basketball team, from JSOnline (scroll down)