Category: Athletics

Two decorated members of the University of Wisconsin wrestling team have made plans to transfer, capping one of the most demoralizing seasons in program history.

Yvette Healy has Sunday circled on her mental calendar for two reasons that are near and dear to the heart of the University of Wisconsin softball coach. One is job-related. If things go according to plan today and Saturday, UW could land its first NCAA tournament berth since 2005 when the 64-team field is announced.

MILWAUKEE (AP) ? Hoping to secure some stability at the top of its athletic department, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee hired former Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger on Thursday.

Greg Stiemsma might not be the next Bill Russell, as at least one overly hopeful ex-Boston Celtic predicted. But he has become a regular contributor ? and burgeoning cult hero ? on a star-studded squad that has designs on a deep run in the NBA playoffs.

The new system needs to be more transparent, and Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez would welcome the four teams being chosen by a selection committee, similar to the system used in basketball.

The coaching philosophy of new UW-Milwaukee women?s basketball coach Kyle Rechlicz can be summed up in one word. Fit. Well, maybe not the entire philosophy, but it?s not a bad place to start.

Like, for instance, when the moment of truth arrived and she made the decision to leave her position as an assistant coach at her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin, and take the head coaching job at UWM.

That wispy cloud of euphoria that Mohammed Ahmed has been perched on for the better part of two weeks?Not only is it gone, his feet are back on the ground, churning toward new endeavors. A junior distance runner for the University of Wisconsin men?s track and field team, Ahmed is fresh off one of the most meaningful races of his career.

MILWAUKEE ? Kyle Rechlicz is leaving the University of Wisconsin women?s basketball program to become head coach at UW-Milwaukee. Rechlicz, who returned to her alma mater last year to join Bobbie Kelsey?s staff as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, was named Tuesday to succeed Sandy Botham as the Panthers coach.

On June 5, 1963, the first Madison Sports Hall of Fame class was inducted. Vince Lombardi was the featured speaker and the class featured a basketball coach, track coach, athletic director, bowler and ice boater. On June 6, 2012, the 50th class to the Madison Sports Hall of Fame will be inducted. This class features a baseball coach, curler, Olympic swimmer and track All American.

Blackhawks brass have to hope this isn?t the extent of Patrick Kane?s offseason training regimen.

Bret Bielema has been the head coach of the University of Wisconsin Badgers football team since 2006, and for most of those years, he was the most eligible bachelor in Madison.

Two former NFL first-round draft picks were busted in an FBI sting designed to catch crooks committing the hottest financial crime in South Florida ? tax refund fraud, federal authorities announced Tuesday.

Lisa Stone appears to be getting back in the coaching game. Stone, the former University of Wisconsin women?s basketball coach, is expected to be announced this week as the new women?s coach at Saint Louis University, according to sources involved in college women?s basketball. Stone, however, said it is not yet a done deal.

Wisconsin junior Mohammed Ahmed can start thinking about attending the 2012 Olympic Games in London — as a competitor rather than spectator.In his first competition of the season, Ahmed all but assured himself of a place in the Games with a personal-best time of 27 minutes 34.64 seconds in the 10,000-meter run late Sunday at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.

When Bradie Ewing?s name flashed across the bottom of the television screen on Saturday, the Wisconsin fullback estimates about 60 text messages poured in. One certainly stood out. It was center Peter Konz. All the text said was ?Bradie!? The Atlanta Falcons drafted Ewing in the fifth round (157th overall), reuniting the Badgers center and fullback.

The battle to open the season as Wisconsin?s No. 1 quarterback won?t begin in earnest until the summer, when transfer Danny O?Brien arrives from Maryland.

Wisconsin?s athletic board approved on Friday one-year contract extensions for five coaches and renewed the one-year contract of a sixth coach.

The Panos legacy lives on at the University of Wisconsin. George Panos, the son of former captain Joe Panos, committed to the Badgers as the first member of the Class of 2014 on Saturday afternoon, announcing his intentions in a Twitter post.

Wide receiver Nick Toon eschewed the No. 87 his father wore at the University of Wisconsin, except for a touching tribute to his dad during his final home game against Penn State last season. Nick wanted to establish his own identity with the Badgers and he did that, catching 171 passes for 2,447 yards in his career. But after getting drafted in the fourth round by the New Orleans Saints on Saturday, Nick Toon has decided to wear his father?s number to start his NFL career.

University of Wisconsin junior Mohammed Ahmed obliterated the school record in the 10,000 meters on Sunday night, cutting nearly 30 seconds off the mark while racing in an elite field at the Payton-Jordan Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.

Longtime University of Wisconsin men?s basketball assistant Greg Gard?s name has come up as a potential candidate for the head coaching vacancy at Illinois State. The Illinois State job opened up Thursday when Tim Jankovich left to become the associate head coach at SMU. Jankovich is expected to be the head-coach-in-waiting at SMU under Larry Brown, who?s 71.

Seattle stunned the NFL draftniks with its third-round selection of former University of Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson on Friday ? not just because he went earlier than expected, but because the Seahawks already have three quarterbacks.

NEENAH ? Margaret Konz summed up the feelings of every college parent in the universe Friday night when she learned the good news.

HOLLYWOOD, Fla.? College football is on the verge of finally having a playoff, its own version of the final four. For the first time, all the power brokers who run the highest level of the sport are comfortable with the idea of deciding a championship the way it?s done from pee-wees to pros. And the way fans have been hoping they would for years.

If you?re one of the thousands hanging out at the State Capitol on Saturday morning, waiting to take part in the Crazylegs Run, you might find yourself in the company of Pat Richter, the former University of Wisconsin athletic director who is serving as grand marshal. While stretching your quads and hammies for the 31st annual rite of spring in Madison, you may be inclined to chat up the man most responsible for the robust financial health and national acclaim for UW Athletics.

It was a smaller than expected gathering to watch the NFL draft on Thursday night with former University of Wisconsin guard Kevin Zeitler.

The University of Wisconsin men?s hockey team has officially committed to play in another outdoor game. UW Athletic Department officials have signed a contract with InterSport, an event promotion company based in Illinois that?s putting together a regional college hockey doubleheader on Feb. 17, 2013, at Soldier Field in Chicago.

At its April meeting Tuesday, the Board of Control unanimously supported the recommendation of executive director Dave Anderson to play the girls tournament at the Resch Center in the Green Bay suburb of Ashwaubenon in 2013 and 2014 while keeping its boys tournament at the Kohl Center in Madison through 2020.

Dear Editor: I am thrilled that the demise of the Bowl Championship Series could be imminent. While the conspicuous absence of an eight-team, neutral-site playoff solution dismays me, I literally laughed out loud when I saw the four-plus option in which two finalists could be chosen from a group of three semifinalists. What is it with major college football?s infatuation with absurdity? UW athletic director, Barry Alvarez, a longtime playoff obstructionist, cites preservation of Rose Bowl tradition as a reason to adopt the four-plus system.

The University of Wisconsin football team has had a relatively low number of injuries this spring. But the nagging injuries are starting to pile up, which could affect the players who available for the spring game on Saturday. Three positions that have been hit hard recently have been tailback, wide receiver and cornerback.

Freshman guard Lacia Gorman, who had been granted her release to transfer from the University of Wisconsin women?s basketball program, has decided to go to Northern Illinois. Gorman will be reunited with former UW assistant coach Kathi Bennett, who originally recruited her to UW.

University of Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez says he?s intrigued by pending discussions aimed at modifying the Bowl Championship Series formula. Commissioners from the six major BCS conferences and select athletic directors, including Alvarez, will meet in Hollywood, Fla., Tuesday through Thursday to weigh the merits of four options aimed at a playoff-type format.

For the Badgers and for Ryan, Uthoff?s departure means a waste of a year of scholarship and training that could have gone to a player with a stronger commitment to play for Wisconsin. And that?s no small thing. Uthoff was a waste of time and money. If the NCAA wants to get serious about avoiding these transfer dustups, it needs to look harder at mandatory four-year scholarship commitments from schools and players ? with only hardship transfers ? and stipends to cover extraneous costs for student athletes. Maybe the sports talking heads can lobby for that. Ryan, meanwhile, is moving on. He says he?s got a scholarship open and he?s doing some recruiting.

As Bo Ryan was getting skewered this week on multiple ESPN platforms – beginning with “Mike and Mike in the Morning” – and all across the Twitter universe, the angst among Wisconsin men?s basketball fans grew exponentially.

Some typical concerns, posted all over the Internet:”This is a public relations nightmare for us.””This is a black eye for the program.””You have to think Bo?s national image will be tainted going forward.”

Not long after Wisconsin officials changed the conditions of Jarrod Uthoff?s scholarship release, UW men?s basketball coach Bo Ryan held court in his office for 35 minutes to discuss the events of the last week.

Ryan was candid, colorful, went on the defensive when talking about his program, and was adamant he handled Uthoff?s transfer request appropriately after consulting with other coaches who have lost players over the years.

Jarrod Uthoff is free to speak with any program outside the Big Ten Conference after University of Wisconsin athletic department officials lifted some ?permission to contact? restrictions on him Thursday.

Just like that, the Jarrod Uthoff saga is over. That?s how it goes in today?s Twitter-driven world. Stories bubble to the surface, sides are taken, reputations are trashed and the media quickly moves on to some other topic. Problem is, it doesn?t go away that quickly for the subjects of the firestorm, who are left to deal with the fallout.

Dave Vander Meulen may have retired as the men?s basketball coach at UW-Whitewater in 2001, but he?s not done yet. As a basketball player, that is. Vander Meulen, 73, grew up in the sport and likes to say, “In 40 years, I never had to have a real job.”

Uthoff, a freshman forward who last week asked for and was granted a release from his scholarship with the Badger men?s basketball program, will first meet with associate athletic director Justin Doherty this morning to dispute restrictions placed on him by UW coach Bo Ryan.

University of Wisconsin wrestling coach Barry Davis knows the worst season in his 18-year tenure with the program could easily have been avoided had he prevented his three top wrestlers from taking Olympic redshirts.But Davis also knows doing that would have made him a hypocrite.