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Wisconsin almost lost Uthoff’s appeal vs. transfer restrictions

Bo Ryan

Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan speaks after practice Friday, March 16, 2012, in Albuquerque, N.M. Wisconsin will face Vanderbilt Saturday in an NCAA tournament third-round basketball game. (AP Photo/Matt York)

AP

Wisconsin could not have possibly messed up the transfer process of redshirt freshman Jarrod Uthoff anymore.

And I’m not talking about the fact that a spiteful Bo Ryan is doing everything he can to limit where Uthoff is able to go to school, which in-and-of-itself is an embarrassment. Ryan has made 34.2% of the power six programs off-limits if Uthoff wants to be on scholarship next year.

Hell hath no fury like a basketball coach scorned.

Believe it or not, it gets worse: Wisconsin almost neglected to file an appeal on Uthoff’s behalf. Scott Dochterman has the details:

Uthoff said he had appealed to the university to ease those restrictions. A source with knowledge of the situation said Uthoff had yet to appeal.

“The university has not received any appeal,” the source said. “I don’t think the kid knows who he submitted the appeal to.”

Uthoff said he went to Wisconsin associate athletics director Justin Doherty’s office one day before his appeal was required. Doherty was not available, so Uthoff then asked Doherty’s secretary if he could leave it on Doherty’s desk, but the secretary said he couldn’t do that. So the secretary took Uthoff’s appeal and placed it in Doherty’s mailbox, according to Johnson.

Uthoff confronted Doherty and his staff today to ask why the appeal was not received. After a discussion, Wisconsin’s officials found Uthoff’s appeal letter in Doherty’s mailbox.

“She just placed it in his mailbox and he didn’t check his mailbox until I had a meeting with him today,” Uthoff said. “I told him the situation and he went and checked his mailbox and it was there.

“They said, ‘Well, this changes things. This puts the burden on us.’ I said, ‘I don’t know what you expected me to do’. They said it was fine.”


Wisconsin couldn’t possibly come off looking any worse.

Not only do they inhibit this kid’s basketball career by blocking essentially any school that showed him interest and making it near impossible for him to find a place to play at a high-major level near his Cedar Rapids, IA, home, they nearly cost him the chance to appeal this injustice through their sheer stupidity.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.