Freshman guard Tai Strickland announced via Twitter Tuesday that he intends to transfer after just one season with the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team and continue his career elsewhere.
Thank you to my teammates, my brothers, for everything y’all have done for me. I’ll always root for your success. I also want to thank Coach Gard and staff for giving me this opportunity, but at this time I have decided to transfer from Wisconsin and continue my career elsewhere. pic.twitter.com/ffr56CPF7b
— Tai Strickland (@taistrickland13) March 26, 2019
The 2018 prospect was a three-star recruit out of high school and held offers from Minnesota, Rutgers, Depaul, Boston College, Austin Peay and Tennessee Tech.
Strickland also received interest from Virginia, Oklahoma State, Baylor and Wichita State, but never received official offers.
The Tampa Bay, Florida native made 16 appearances for the Badgers this season, converting 39.1 percent of his field goals on 23 total attempts and finishing with 28 points on the season.
Strickland saw a limited role in the rotation early on, but those minutes dwindled to practically zero playing time for the majority of the second half of the season.
Strickland is a speedy point guard with a crafty first step. His pesky defensive ability slowed down opposing guards regularly and he demonstrated a shot-blocking presence as a result of his athleticism.
The big thing Wisconsin wanted to see Strickland improve on was his ability to take care of the basketball. In his limited minutes, he turned the ball over plenty.
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Strickland is an aggressive scorer who is unafraid to take the ball to the cup or step back and take a jump shot. He has the ability to change the tempo of a game but never had the opportunity to put his full talents on display at Wisconsin.
Strickland’s departure creates an opening for a scholarship spot that the Badgers can choose to fill by adding a player from the 2019 recruiting class.
The Badgers have not signed any point guards yet for the next two recruiting classes, but will likely want to start looking for a backup to D’Mitrik Trice, who will be a redshirt junior by the beginning of next season.
Strickland has not yet announced where he will be transferring.
