His old Wisconsin home, far away

According to a buddy at work who is a Louisville grad, there are some rumblings coming from Kentucky that freshman guard and 'Tosa native, Jerry Smith is considering a transfer to the University of Wisconsin. Smith was one of 3 guards highly recruited by Bo Ryan the last few years, but when Jason Bohannon and Travon Hughes signed their letters of intent, the scholarships dried up. Smith then wanted to attend another in-state school that was persuing him hard- Marquette- but Tom Crean reportedly pulled the offer even though, unlike Ryan, he still had open scholarships available. So Smith went south and made a contribution for the Cards, including shooting a dagger through the heart of a local school that he wanted to attend when he beat MU at the buzzer in Milwaukee in January.

However, Rick Pitino has been stocking up on talent, Edgar Sosa ain't going anywhere and Smith might have fallen out of even the 2nd rotation of guards there.

If he comes to Madison Smith will have to sit out a year, but he can come back in November of 08 after Flowers graduates and have 3 years to contribute in the Big 10.

While the Badgers appear to have 3 solid guards this year, I think we all agree they aren't terribly deep over the next few years at that position. Bo Ryan has no luck holding onto guards, maybe we can take the advantage of getting someone else's.

"Trendy Pick"

The Chicago Tribune, in their analysis of all 11 BT teams as they complete their spring practices, picks the Badgers as the "trendy pick" to win the league on account of 16 returning starters plus the punter and kicker. They like the front seven on defense and the receiving corps on offense (quite a change from a year ago), but question the quality of the returning starters given only one win against ranked opponents last season (Arkansas).

In other news, Jamaal Cooper was once again reinstated on the roster by Coach Bielema. If he continues to get the job done in the classroom, Coop fortifies an already tough D-line and gives the team excellent bookends (pairing with Shaunnessey) on passing downs. Both should be fully healed after slowly recovering from surgery last season.