There was once a time when the idea of Wisconsin going into Ohio State's back yard and signing a hot basketball recruit who had been offered a scholarship by the two-time defending national champion, Florida, would've been met with laughter.
But Bo Ryan and the Badgers did just that this week, as Garfield, Ohio, prep star Robert Wilson declared at a press conference Wednesday that he will be attending the University of Wisconsin.
"Wisconsin has been recruiting me for the past year. They have good coaching there and I know I can fit into their organization, so I felt more comfortable choosing Wisconsin," Wilson told the Capital Times.
Wilson, a junior at Garfield Heights High School, located just outside of Cleveland, had been pursued by Wisconsin for more than a year after being noticed by UW assistant Greg Gard. Wilson is now the third member of the Badgers' 2008-09 recruiting class, joining forward Jared Berggren and guard Jordan Taylor, both from Minnesota.
At 6-foot-4, Wilson averaged 17 points, six rebounds and 3.5 assists during his junior season and has attracted much attention, with more sure to come. Along with Wisconsin and Florida, Wilson reportedly has been offered scholarships from Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, Xavier and Iowa, while also receiving attention from Penn State.
The Badgers still have one open scholarship remaining, which could either be used for next season or to add a fourth recruit to the incoming 2007-08 class, which includes Madison native Keaton Nankivil (forward), Oshkosh product Tim Jarmusz (guard), and Jon Leuer, a forward from Orono, Minn.
Burke makes tourney
Despite a disappointing season that didn't include a single conference win for the UW women's tennis team, senior Caitlin Burke earned an at-large bid for singles competition in the 2007 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships Wednesday.
With a 16-7 overall record this season, including a 10-2 mark this spring season, Burke was one of 45 at-large players selected. The competition consists of 64 players, 19 of which earned automatic qualifications. Northwestern's Georgia Rose earned the automatic bid for the Big Ten Conference.
Even with an injury that kept her out of the singles lineup for almost two-months, Burke played well for the Badgers this season. She continually represented the team in the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings and achieved the highest ranking of her career at No. 14 during the Feb. 21 poll. Burke currently sits at No. 31 in the latest poll released April 30.
Of the top 16 seeded singles players, Burke has faced five of them, including the No. 1 seeded Audra Cohen from Miami. Burke played Cohen back on Feb. 1 at the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Madison, and put up a fight, but could not knock off the No. 1 ranked player in a 6-4, 6-3 loss. That was the last match Burke played before returning to the singles lineup March 31. It was also just one of two losses this spring season for Burke.
–UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
