After months of intense speculation, 6-foot-11 Appleton West High School senior Brian Butch announced at a press conference Wednesday afternoon that he will play collegiate basketball at the University of Wisconsin.
Butch intends to sign a binding national letter of intent during the early signing period, which runs Nov. 13-20. Butch is regarded by most recruiting analysts as a top-10 player nationally and is the biggest Wisconsin signing since Rashard Griffith signed with the Badgers in 1992.
Other finalists on Butch’s short list read as a who’s-who list of college basketball’s best programs. Arizona, Kansas, North Carolina and Marquette were all in the running until Wisconsin landed the highly touted prep star.
While impressed by other visits, Butch elected to stay close to home because of a high comfort level with Madison and the UW basketball program.
“I felt comfortable there,” Butch told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “In a place like Chapel Hill (N.C.) you try to feel comfortable, but I just didn’t feel comfortable. That was the same with Kansas.”
Butch was named the Associated Press Wisconsin State Player of the Year in 2002 after he led his team to the state tournament while averaging 24.4 points and 11.7 rebounds per contest.
Butch becomes the second member of a two-person recruiting class. Wisconsin received a verbal commitment from Minneapolis guard Kammron Taylor in early August. Taylor, a 6-foot-2 combo point guard, chose Wisconsin over DePaul and Minnesota, among others.
Butch is regarded by most as an extremely skilled player for his size and age. He possesses a strong inside game and also some outside touch. Scouts believe he can develop into a top national player as he puts on more size in college.
The signing continues the momentum the Badgers gained last year when they earned a share of the Big Ten title and also marks a recruiting victory for Bo Ryan over instate rival Tom Crean (Marquette) who is known for his recruiting prowess. Marquette appears to have been second on Butch’s list.
Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan is not allowed by the NCAA to comment on recruits until the early signing period.
