An old adage states that, \To the victors go the spoils."" The adage was once again proven true last week by the men's basketball team as the back-to-back Big Ten Champion Badgers gained a valuable gem in transfer Sharif Chambliss. Chambliss, a 6'1"", 175 pound junior guard, has spent his last three seasons at Penn State.
In that time, the Nittany Lions have become one of the worst teams in the Big Ten, owning the worst record in the Big Ten the last two years. However, through that time period, Chambliss has averaged around 15 points per game as a starter and has led the Big Ten in three-point shooting percentage during that time span.
The Racine, Wis., native will not see any playing time next season because NCAA rules stipulate that a transferring player must be redshirted the season after transferring. He will be able to practice with the team. This will give him the season to learn the Badgers' offense and defense and allow him to make the transition from one squad to the next a little easier.
He will only have one season to play for UW. However, Chambliss will be on the court with then-seniors Devin Harris and Mike Wilkinson and then-juniors Alando Tucker and Boo Wade. On paper, the Badgers ought to be an agile and dangerous team to face in the 2004-'05 campaign.
In addition, Chambliss will add some needed depth to UW's roster.
Maybe Chambliss' transfer to UW is just something that was supposed to happen three years ago. Chambliss wanted to be recruited by former Head Coach Dick Bennett. But, like Madison West's Reece Gaines, Chambliss did not fit Bennett's scheme of things at the time and was not recruited to play basketball for the Badgers.
So Gaines headed to Louisville and Sharif headed to Happy Valley to play ball for Penn State. In his three years there, the Nittany Lions have compiled a 35-54 overall record, 12-36 in the Big Ten. While suffering on a terrible team, Chambliss played well, averaging a .387 shooting percentage, .400 three-point shooting percentage and has shot 89 percent from the charity stripe.
As if there was not any more reason to be excited for the future of the Badgers, the idea of a senior coming around in two years can only make the minds wonder what is possible out of this team.
As the proverb says, ""A chain is no stronger than it's weakest link."" Some have to wonder how weak that one link will be.
