A series of academic cases involving the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team put UW athletic director Barry Alvarez on the offensive Friday.
Alvarez told members of the UW Athletic Board in open session that action has been taken in the aftermath of announcements earlier this week that sophomore center Greg Stiemsma and freshman forward Marcus Landry are ineligible for the second semester.
Well, at least we’ve got that cleared up.
It was the athletes’ fault.
At least that was the message sent down from the University of Wisconsin athletic department after two men’s basketball players were declared academically ineligible for the second semester and a third left school in part because he wouldn’t have been eligible.
Tailback Booker Stanley appears to have played his final game for Wisconsin.
UW coach Bret Bielema hinted at the departure of Stanley, who has been suspended from the team since his arrest on Dec. 21, during comments the coach made Friday to the UW Athletic Board.
The recent unruly behavior of UW-Madison hockey fans prompted the UW Athletic Department to send an e-mail to all season-ticket holders Thursday night, requesting sportsmanlike behavior beginning with the two-game home series vs. Minnesota this weekend.
With rival Minnesota visiting the Kohl Center this weekend for a highly anticipated hockey match-up, the University of Wisconsin athletic department wants to remind all students to be good sports.
University of Wisconsin’s women’s hockey coach Mark Johnson, unassuming in appearance, slipped through the courtside patrons at halftime of Wednesday’s Big Ten men’s basketball game between Penn State and the Badgers at the Kohl Center. Johnson, understated by nature, was the interview subject of the ESPN Regional television crew. Or, rather, his No. 1 ranked women’s team was. And the recognition was a sign of growth for his program and the sport.
Although three players who started the season on the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team have been declared academically ineligible to play this semester, the director of the athletic department’s academic services does not believe that points to any breakdowns within his group.
Coach Bo Ryan is equally confident in how he and his staff handle academic issues even though sophomore Greg Stiemsma, redshirt freshman DeAaron Williams and freshman Marcus Landry became the program’s first academic casualties in 11 seasons.
Greg Stiemsma is accustomed to hearing cheers for how he handles opponents on the basketball court. But the UW-Madison sophomore deserves to be cheered this week for how he has confronted a more challenging opponent – depression.
First in a three-part series that takes a look at the principles on which new University of Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema will base his program, the lifestyle adjustments he had been made since being promoted and the challenges he faces as successor to the winningest coach in school history, Barry Alvarez.
When the University of Wisconsin Athletic Department introduced its student-athlete discipline policy in August of 2003, Walter Dickey was one of the policy’s critics.
Depression on campus. Like anyone else, UW-Madison students are vulnerable to becoming depressed, and that certainly includes student-athletes.
Badger Basketball Sophomore Greg Stiemsma says depression contributed to his being declared academically ineligible this past week.
The University of Wisconsin athletic department proposed raising ticket prices during a finance committee meeting Tuesday, according to an athletic department official.
Greg Stiemsma put an end to speculation about his possible return to the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team this season when he issued a statement Wednesday saying he was academically ineligible to compete with the team this semester.
Stiemsma, a 6-foot-11 sophomore center, said in the statement that he was dealing with depression. He said that affected his grades and caused him to take a leave of absence from the team starting last Wednesday.
The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team suffered its second significant loss of the week, announcing Wednesday that sophomore center Greg Stiemsma will sit out the rest of the season after being ruled academically ineligible.
The short-handed Wisconsin Badgers have lost yet another player to academic shortcomings.
Greg Stiemsma, a 6-foot-11 sophomore center, is academically ineligible and will not play for the rest of the season. He can practice with the team but cannot travel. The Randolph native attributed his academic struggles to a mental condition.
With one month remaining in the budget process, the University of Wisconsin athletic department is grappling with a projected deficit of almost $1.4 million for 2006-07.
Badger basketball fans on a budget may need to skip that box of popcorn next season.
An increase of $2 per game for men’s basketball tickets is part of a proposed budget that was unveiled Tuesday at a UW Athletic Board finance committee meeting. Student tickets for men’s hockey will also hike by $1 per game, but no other ticket increases were proposed.
….John Jentz, UW assistant athletic director for finance, did not rule out the possibility of additional ticket hikes making their way into the budget in the next month. He did say they were unlikely though, even as the athletic department tries to erase a $1.37 million shortfall in the preliminary 2006-07 budget.
Steve Malchow was hired as Iowa State�s senior associate athletics director for communications in November. The Sioux City native came to ISU from Wisconsin.
It’s standard operating procedure for the head coach to meet with the team at the start of the second semester. But, for the first time in 16 years, a different voice was addressing the Badger players. “I don’t want any surprises,” Bielema told them. “You guys understand what we’re going to do and where we need to be, and I expect the (right) attitude to be there when we get there.”
….Last week, two UW redshirt freshmen, Antonio Freeman and Jameson Davis, were pulled over for speeding and arrested after marijuana was found in the car. Both have been suspended from the team for violating the school’s student-athlete discipline policy.
“One of the things that has to be a mainstay is consistency in discipline to make sure there is an understanding and everybody is on the same page,” said Bielema, who brought the incident to the attention of everyone in the room just in case somebody wasn’t aware of the consequences: the subsequent publicity, media scrutiny and the ramifications to the program.
Fans who attend University of Wisconsin men’s basketball games at the Kohl Center probably will pay more to see the Badgers play next season.
UW officials on Tuesday included a $2 increase in a preliminary 2006-’07 budget projection for the UW Athletic Department. That budget projection was presented to UW’s Finance Committee, which is to vote on the proposed increase and the overall budget at its Feb. 21 meeting.
Season tickets cost $22 for 100- and 200-level seats and $20 for 300-level seats. Single-game tickets cost $24 for 100- and 200-level seats and $22 for 300-level seats.
In addition, UW officials proposed a $1 increase for men’s hockey tickets for students, to $9 per game.
Marcus Landry ended nearly a week’s worth of speculation about his future with the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team when he stepped up to the microphones Monday afternoon and told reporters he’s academically ineligible for the rest of this season.
….The reserve, who had been averaging 6.0 points and 3.1 rebounds a game, said he waited to make a statement about his eligibility until he had exhausted appeals to regain it.
In order to flush a truly humiliating experience out of your system, you need to tear it down, examine it from every angle, give it some context and move on.
Since disciples of the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team have already razed and analyzed that 62-55 non-conference loss to North Dakota State Saturday at the Kohl Center, here is some context: It was the biggest upset loss, in any major sport, in the modern era of UW sports.
Freshman forward Marcus Landry is academically ineligible and will not play for the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team again this season.
Two days after being swept by Western Collegiate Hockey Association foe Denver, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team fell from the No. 1 spot in the USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine national poll.
Mike O’Melia wasn’t the best player on the 1962 University of Wisconsin team that upset top-ranked Ohio State and snapped the Buckeyes’ 47-game, regular-season winning streak, but he ran the show.
“He was like the quintessential point guard,” former Badgers athletic director Pat Richter said Monday night. “He handled the ball. Good defender. A real playmaker.”
O’Melia, the captain of the Badgers’ 1964 squad, died Saturday of unknown causes. He was 63.
Misery took a three-day weekend in the Badger nation.
First the University of Wisconsin suffered an embarrassing basketball loss Saturday to North Dakota State, a team so new Division I that it still doesn’t belong to a conference. The news was worse Monday though not totally unexpected.
Freshman forward Marcus Landry, a key member of the Badgers’ bench, is academically ineligible to play the rest of the season.
For the first time, the University of Wisconsin athletic department received an award for overall excellence in diversity from the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport at Texas A&M University. UW was one of 10 NCAA Division 1-A athletic departments recognized and the only Big Ten school to receive an award.
Ask anyone in the media relations business about their strategy for handling a controversy and they will all start with the same objective.
Get it off the front pages, the TV teleprompters, the talk show topic list and the Internet message boards as soon as possible.
So, here we are, now four days into the curious story about University of Wisconsin men’s basketball players Marcus Landry and Greg Stiemsma.
The University of Wisconsin football team suspended players Antonio Freeman and Jameson Davis Thursday for violating the university�s student-athlete discipline policy.
Two University of Wisconsin football players were taken into custody Wednesday night in Jefferson County after the Wisconsin State Patrol received a complaint about a possible intoxicated driver.
Freshman forward Marcus Landry practiced with the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team Thursday, a day after being declared ineligible to compete by the school.
Former University of Wisconsin offensive coordinator Brian White has been hired to be the quarterbacks coach of the Syracuse University football team.
Orange head coach Greg Robinson said Thursday night that White will replace Major Applewhite, who left after one season to become offensive coordinator at Rice.
MADISON, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin was one of 10 NCAA Division I-A athletic departments and the only Big Ten school to receive the Diversity in Athletics Award presented annually by the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport at Texas A&M University. This is the first time the Badger program was recognized.
If you’re looking for a ticket to a UW men’s basketball game, you’d better check Ebay…that’s virtually the only place you can get them.
That’s because the school’s policy doesn’t prevent students from scalping tickets they’ve won in the UW’s lottery system.
With the arrests Wednesday of Antonio Freeman and Jameson Davis, four Wisconsin football players have allegedly broken the law since Dec. 16.
Freeman and Davis were arrested Wednesday night in Jefferson County after deputies pulled them over for speeding and then found marijuana in the car.
The UW football program gets more bad news on the conduct of its players.
Two team members face charges of drug possession.
The two football players were not only caught with drugs, but also while traveling more than 35 miles an hour over the speed limit.
After an affirmative vote by the Wisconsin state Senate, the Assembly approved a resolution Tuesday honoring Barry Alvarez for his outstanding achievements as head football coach of the University of Wisconsin Badgers.
State lawmakers praised retiring UW-Madison football coach Barry Alvarez on Tuesday with resolutions honoring his 16-year tenure.
It appears likely that the girls and boys state swimming meets will have a new home as early as this fall.
Last Friday the WIAA Board of Control approved a recommendation by the swimming and diving coaches advisory committee to examine a potential move of the State Championship meet to Waukesha South High School.
….The WIAA has held its boys state meet at the University of Wisconsin Natatorium since 1966 and the girls meet at the Nat since 1978.
Madison: The area around Camp Randall Stadium on game days can hardly be described as boring, but the UW Athletic Department wants to know if there are still fans looking for something to do. “I think our audience would be those people who aren’t satisfied with what’s out there,” says UW Sr. Associate Athletic Director Vince Sweeney.
Two UW Badger defensive backs were arrested Wednesday night in Jefferson County when an officer found marijuana after stopping the car for going over 100 mph.
Antonio Freeman, 20, and Jameson Davis, 19, were released after being booked into the Jefferson County Jail. Both await dates for their court appearances in Jefferson County Court.
Consider this the Wisconsin Badgers’ third loss in two days.
Sometime on Tuesday the Badgers learned they would face Ohio State without two members of their rotation, Marcus Landry and Greg Stiemsma, who were out because of academic and medical issues, respectively.
Juggling responsibilities with classes, practice, travel and competition poses challenges for student-athletes.
Akiya Alexander is aware that finding a balance with all of those tasks is crucial, and hopes to return to competition with the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team next season.
Alexander was declared academically ineligible on Tuesday for the second semester and won’t play or travel with the Badgers (6-10, 1-5 Big Ten Conference) for the rest of the season.
APPLETON ââ?¬â? Former University of Wisconsin football coach Barry Alvarez spent Tuesday soaking up the adulation of fans across the state.
Alvarez, who two weeks ago ended his successful 16-year coaching tenure, began the day in Madison, where the state Assembly and Senate gave him standing ovations as they passed resolutions honoring his 118 wins, three Rose Bowls and three Big Ten titles.
University of Wisconsin football players Booker Stanley and Marcus Randle El both received suspensions from the team following police entanglements in December.
Sounds of protest and praise filled the State Capitol this morning, though on starkly different issues.
In the chambers of the Senate and the Assembly, legislators formally commended University of Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez in a joint resolution that congratulated and thanked him “for his 16 years of hard work and great achievements as coach,” more wins than any of his predecessors.
But, at the same time down Wisconsin Avenue at Bethel Lutheran Church, demonstrators were also talking about work. They were rallying before a walk to the Capitol to try to influence senators not to approve a bill that would require documentary proof of citizenship or legal residence to get a driver’s license.
If you have the time and know where to look, you can easily find hundreds of statistics to define the now completed career of Barry Alvarez as University of Wisconsin football coach.
Some are obvious: Alvarez led the Badgers to 118 victories in 16 seasons and had a .520 winning percentage in Big Ten Conference games (65-60-3).
When you’re young, you go to school. Your job is to learn. Hopefully, you learn enough to get a real job that pays real money.
Devin Harris left the University of Wisconsin to start his education, which is ongoing and happens to pay quite nicely, by the way. And there are indications that he’s a good student at the NBA level.
North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven crossed paths with New York Jets quarterback Brooks Bollinger this past week.
Both were in the Herald building, the governor talking about school funding and Bollinger talking about life as an NFL quarterback.
“You represent us well,” Hoeven told Bollinger. “We’re really proud of you.”
Up and down State street, enthusiasm from Badger fans is everywhere.
“Oh my gosh, how could you not get excited about everything that’s going on here?” said one fan.
Good question.
Although they coached against each other in the Big 12 Conference for the last two seasons, Mike Hankwitz of Colorado and Dave Doeren of Kansas didn’t hesitate to share defensive strategy regarding common opponents.
Although Bret Bielema would welcome the return of former tailback Dwayne Smith to the Wisconsin football team, he will not do so at the risk of Smith’s health.
Smith, who remains enrolled at UW and turns 22 on April 4, contacted Bielema last week and inquired about the possibility of returning to the team. Bielema listened and Smith is to meet with UW’s medical staff this week.
The former standout at Hales Franciscan in Chicago was forced to give up football just days before the 2004 season opener after doctors discovered he had a potentially life-threatening heart condition. The condition, known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, is generally characterized by enlargement of the heart muscle and a thickening of the walls of the left ventricle.
Booker Stanley, a 22-year-old UW-Madison junior and backup tailback for the football team, did not make an appearance in the Badgers� Capital One Bowl victory Jan. 2 due to charges stemming from a Dec. 21 incident in which he allegedly battered and strangled a 20-year-old woman.
The news many Badger football fans anticipated for weeks was confirmed Thursday when junior tailback Brian Calhoun announced he would forego his final season at UW-Madison and enter the NFL draft in April.
Orlando, Fla.ââ?¬â?When the Wisconsin Badgers lost 20-10 in head coach Barry Alvarezââ?¬â?¢s final game at Camp Randall, the mood was melancholy afterwards.
ââ?¬Å?It was pretty somber in the locker room,ââ?¬Â junior strong safety Joe Stellmacher said. ââ?¬Å?We all wanted to get coach that last win at home.ââ?¬Â
Less than a month later, the Badger locker room could rejoice again after a shocking 24-10 victory over the then- No. 7 Auburn Tigers at the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
MADISON, Wis. — Over 320 movers and shakers from Madison’s business community came together at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center on Monday, Jan. 9 to recognize the recipients of this yearââ?¬â?¢s Best of Madison Business Awards, presented by Madison Magazine.
Honorees for 2006 included the University of Wisconsin Athletic Department (represented by Vince Sweeney, Senior Associate Athletic Director).
The gala also raises money for The Brian D. Howell Science and Communications Scholarship Fund which provides financial support for a college-level internship designed to encourage University of Wisconsin-Madison students to pursue interests in journalism, science, and new technology.
The miracle some Wisconsin football fans yearned for did not materialize Thursday.
As expected, UW junior tailback Brian Calhoun announced that he had decided to skip his senior season and enter the National Football League draft.
Dwayne Smith has not carried a football since August 2004, when University of Wisconsin doctors diagnosed him with a potentially life-threatening heart condition. But Smith longs to suit up again.
“I know there are other aspects of life I can be successful in,” said Smith, the 2002 valedictorian at Hales Franciscan. “And I want to do all those great things too. But this is my passion.”
Bret Bielema’s first hire as Wisconsin football coach is a familiar face: Henry Mason.
The spotlight shining on the future of the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team added some serious wattage this week when high-profile center Sam Gagner made an oral commitment to the Badgers for the 2007-08 season.
