After the transfer decision of Jarrod Uthoff the Badger faithful put their attention towards the
recruitment and decision of Beaver Falls, Pa. small forward Sheldon Jeter. After his choice of Vanderbilt (Penn State was apparently second choice) on Thursday the Badgers are now left with an extra scholarship heading into the 2012-13 season. Could they offer it to someone else or will they keep it? More importantly how does this affect the roster and rotation in the front court?
Next year….I’m playing at Vanderbilt University…..If you haven’t heard yet!
— Sheldon Jeter (@ChildOfGod_34) May 4, 2012
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
It is highly unlikely at this stage in the game that the Badgers would offer anyone else the extra scholarship. The only person that may get it would be incoming walk-on Zak Showalter from Germantown. But even that may be unlikely as the 2013 class is pretty loaded with talent both in and out of the state.
The one big thing most people haven’t been talking about with the loss of Uthoff was just where he would’ve fit in the rotation next season. Jared Berggren, Mike Bruesewitz, and Ryan Evans all return for their senior seasons and all three will be counted on as big time players for a team that will be breaking in a new point guard and finding a rotation in the back court.
So, losing Uthoff might not have the biggest impact on the 2012-13 season as some are want to think. However, come the 2013-14 season that’s another story all together. Major minutes up front would’ve been up for grabs as gone will be Evans, Berggren, and Bruesewitz.
Jeter’s choice also doesn’t really affect the 2012-13 roster all that much as a result. He would’ve been someone that could’ve possibly fit into the Ryan Evans type of player, but that’s a role that could be filled by the likes of Zach Bohannon, who sat out as a transfer from Air Force last season.
Bottom line is the Badgers are pretty loaded up front next season. We haven’t even talked about the fact that Wisconsin will also be trying to find a role for star recruit Sam Dekker this season as most expect him to be one of the rare freshman that could make an impact at Wisconsin right off the bat.
As it stands right now the Badgers rotation will most likely look like this to start next season:
Evans, Bruesewitz, Berggren as the starters and Kaminsky (probably for Berggren), Dekker (Bruesewitz), and Bohannon (Evans) are the likely group first off the bench next season.
The biggest wild cards in the bench group are Duje Dukan, a fan favorite and a man that has seen very limited action, and center Evan Anderson, who came in with a ton of promise and at 6’10” provides the height needed but has yet to see anything in the way of playing time.
As most Badger fans know it’s not how you start your career but how you finish it so Dukan (a Junior next season) and Anderson (just a redshirt Sophomore next season) could end up surprising a few people and become decent contributors off the bench after all next season.
The loss of Uthoff and the fact that Jeter didn’t take the scholarship offer from Wisconsin aren’t the end of the world as some Badger fans may think. It actually opens up some opportunities with the next recruiting class which is actually more loaded with talent and that’s not a bad thing in this writers mind.
Targets like Kyle Washington, Devin Williams, and Josh Davenport are all front court options that Wisconsin has offered in the 2013 class and they could be the biggest beneficiaries of Wisconsin holding on to the extra scholarship that Uthoff’s transfer opens up. I just don’t see the Badgers giving the scholarship to a walk-on when the 2013 class is so loaded, but if this offseason has taught us anything expect the unexpected at times.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
