Gasser is a Badger!

It's official, Josh Gasser of Port Washington is a Wisconsin Badger. He chose Wisconsin over Northern Iowa and Northwestern, citing proximity to home, academics, excellence of the program, style of play, and his relationships with the coaches and future teammates.

Josh Gasser Offered Full Scholarship

Well, as I predicted (not that it was that difficult to forecast), Josh Gasser has been offered a full scholarship by the Badgers per Mark Miller of wissports.net.

Taylor Withdraws and Glover Dismissed From Team

Given that I didn't want to comment on it until all the facts were presented and I just wanted to see how it would play out, I didn't write about the incident involving Diamond Taylor and Jeremy Glover before. As of today, Taylor has withdrawn from school all together, avoiding judgment from the Student-Athlete Discipline Committee. Glover has not withdrawn from school, but was dismissed from the team by the aforementioned committee. Despite their deplorable actions, I wish both guys the best, hopefully they bounce back and get a second chance.

Basketball wise, this isn't a good thing for the team. Neither players were expected to contribute this season, but they would provide great players on the practice squad for the regular rotation. It is hurtful next season. It puts depth at guard currently at dire straits. If UW can't pick up Gasser or Blue, that gives the team only 1 true scholarship guard. Jordan Taylor would run the point, but the 2 guard and back-ups would consist of Rob Wilson, Ryan Evans, and Tim Jarmusz. At this point, I don't think Evans or Jarmusz are capable of playing a lot of minutes at the 2, and there just isn't a back-up PG. The glass-half full side of this story is that Gasser will probably be offered a full scholarship sometime this week and if Vander Blue wants a lot of playing time right off the bat, it's his for the taking for sure.

Wisconsin Conditionally Offers Josh Gasser

Wissports.net has reported that Bo Ryan met with Josh Gasser's parents late last week and gave him a conditional scholarship offer of walking-on for his freshman season, redshirting, and then being on scholarship for 4 years. Some may see this as a back-up plan if Vander Blue says no. Honestly, I think this says UW thinks they are landing Blue. Why give a prospect like Gasser a conditional offer when you can offer a full one right away? I think it points to a likelihood of them not liking their chances with Chasson Randle and Nnana Egwu in 2011. But I digress...

Gasser is a 6'4" combo guard who is a decent shooter. As with all Ryan recruits, he's got great basketball I.Q. and the will to win. I don't have a lot more info on him, but he also has offers from Maryland, Arizona State, Northwestern, Butler, Creighton, Northern Iowa, Bucknell, St. Louis, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Green Bay, Buffalo, and William & Mary. He is also garnering interest from Tony Bennett's Virginia.

Stats
29 PPG

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Wright Commits... to Pitt

Hey all! Sorry for absolutely no posts for nearly three months. There hasn't been much to report on this summer, and I've been trying to enjoy it while it lasts. Anyways, the breaking news as of about 2-3 hours ago is that Ohio combo guard Cameron Wright has verbally committed to Pitt. This leaves Wisconsin in the tough position being "all-in" for Vander Blue. That or they may have to start giving Josh Gasser or Flavien Davis really serious looks.

Blue Decommits...

The rumor that had been swirling for months finally became true this past week as heralded Badger recruit Vander Blue rescinded his verbal commitment to play for the Badgers.

I don't want to go into the details of that terribly inaccurate Rob Schultz article, but I will say this... I completely understand where Vander is coming from. Having known that I wanted to go to UW-Madison since I could ever remember, I didn't give it a second guess after I was accepted. But for a stud basketball player without that allegiance who is being tempted by some of the most storied programs in the history of college basketball, you'd have second thoughts about the relatively quick decision you made a year earlier too. While I hope he ultimately decides that his original choice was the right one and recommits to the Badgers, I think Badger fans who take basketball for what it is, a game, agree that Vander should choose the school that best fits his desires, whatever those may be. After reading the transcript from his press conference announcing the decommitment, there's no doubt in my mind that he has a good head on his shoulders and a great family environment to help him make that decision.

I only wish those that disparaged him after that article came out would realize there is more to life than winning a few basketball games. When I first read the article, the first thought I had was that I hope he pulls it together academically so that he can take advantage of his great ability to earn a degree. Unfortunately, a small number of people on the various message boards and the Badgerbeat comment section (mostly them) took this as an opportunity to verbally abuse Blue and/or the Badger program under cover of internet anonymity. This is the ugly side of sports that I just detest and wish was not part of the equation. Hopefully the positive comments that far outweighed the negative ones will help Vander know that he is indeed wanted at the University of Wisconsin and will be accepted with open arms should he decide to recommit. But until then, there is no joy in Madville.

Cameron Wright Offered!

With the decommitment of Vander Blue, the Badgers went on the offensive to make sure they have another option if Blue doesn't choose Wisconsin when it's all said and done. They offered another decommit, former OSU recruit Cameron Wright. Wright is a 6'5" wing who is long and athletic. He's an all-around scorer, decent defender, and great student.

Junior Season Statistics
18.2 PPG
7.1 RPG
3.9 APG
3.1 SPG
1.0 BPG


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