Wisconsin blinked.
After days of hearing criticism from college basketball pundits and fans, the school decided redshirt freshman Jarrod Uthoff can transfer to any school outside the Big Ten.
The 6-8 forward was granted a release last week, but Wisconsin had placed the entire Big Ten, ACC, Iowa State and Marquette on a restricted list. It was an unusually harsh move – schools usually only restrict contact to other programs within their conference – and one that prompted fair amounts of criticism on the school and coach Bo Ryan.
(A school must request permission to speak with the transferring player. If that permission is not granted, the player can’t go on scholarship for one academic year if he transfers to that school. He also must sit out a season, per NCAA transfer rules.)
But as more details emerged about Uthoff’s transfer request, it became clear that public sentiment overwhelmingly considered Uthoff to be treated unfairly. Ryan came off as a bully when he defended his stance and caught more heat, though he tried to clarify those comments later when he spoke to Mike DeCourcy. He says he was bothered by the way Uthoff put in his transfer request.
By the time Ryan went on the ESPN radio program “Mike and Mike’ on Thursday morning, the sentiment crested to the point where Wisconsin decided to give Uthoff more freedom.
It should be noted, however, that this is only the second player to transfer during Ryan’s tenure that began in 2001.
Uthoff had a visit scheduled to Creighton, but will now likely visit Iowa State as well, which isn’t far from his Cedar Rapids, Iowa, home.
You also can follow me on Twitter @MikeMillerNBC.