Better Know A Badger! Part 2

Swingtown Badger Basketball Blog presents part 2 of a 416,937-part series, Better Know a Badger... this post is about freshman guard Ben Brust, the fightin' #1!

uwbadgers.com interview

Ben Brust Commits!

I'm really far behind on this stuff and I figure since there's been 3 commits in 3 days that I should get caught up.

After Wisconsin won the appeal to the Big Ten on Ben Brust, he promptly committed to the Badgers. He rounds out the incoming freshman class by joining Duje Dukan and Josh Gasser.

Breaking News! Wisconsin wins appeal in Brust's favor!

This morning, the 11-member faculty committee voted in favor of waiving the rule restricting Mundelein, IL guard Ben Brust from receiving a scholarship from any Big Ten school other than Iowa. This is great news for Wisconsin as it is perceived that he is a Wisconsin lean at this point and the rule was the only thing stopping him from becoming a Badger. The UW representative on the committee, law professor Walter Dickey, was unable to comment on this specific case, but had this to say in regards to the rule,"the basic rationale behind the rule is to try to both support the national letter of intent and to prevent coaching or raiding (players). That is important to us within the conference. (But) every rule can’t ever cover every possible situation. I think one way of looking at it is you’ve got to uphold the rules no matter what. And I think another view, which is mine, is that if rigid and mechanical adherence to rules that don’t advance their purpose, (it) undermines the legitimacy of the rules. The other thing that has to be foremost here is student welfare. It is a free country. Although the conference has an interest in putting sound limitations on it, we should never forget that the welfare of the young people is what this is about.” I don't think it could be said better. Well done faculty committee.


jsonline.com

Scholarship Offer to Ben Brust!

6'2" guard Ben Brust of Mundelein, IL has somewhat recently been released from his Letter of Intent to Iowa due to the firing of head coach Todd Lickliter.

Here's where the trouble sets in. The Big Ten has a rule stating that once a player signs a Letter of Intent to a Big Ten school, he/she may not receive a scholarship at another Big Ten school if they choose to transfer. Wisconsin's basketball team is familiar with the rule, as when Sharif Chambliss transferred from Penn State to Wisconsin and finished his senior season as a Badger, he was without a scholarship per the rule. Brust has appealed the rule himself and been denied by the conference. Wisconsin, being the apparent front runner for his commitment, has now filed an appeal, which will be decided on by a faculty member from each member institution. For it to be successful, 6 out the 11 members must be in favor of overriding the rule. While I'm not holding my breath, as the madison.com article states, there is a mild precedent for it. Less than 4 years ago, Alex Legion was a highly touted guard that had signed a LOI to play for Tommy Amaker's Michigan Wolverines. When Amaker was fired, he reopened his recruitment and signed with the Kentucky Wildcats. After being in Lexington for a semester, Illinois appealed and was granted a waiver of the rule so that Legion could receive a scholarship when he transferred to Illinois.

As for Brust as a recruit, he's a great shooter that put up more than 25 points per game as a junior and senior at Mundelein High School. From all the write-ups and videos of him that I've seen, he seems to be another Jason Bohannon, which I'd gladly welcome.


Highlight Video #1
Highlight Video #2 (featuring Duje Dukan too)
Highlight Video #3
Highlight Video #4
Highlight Video #5