With freshman forward Marcus Landry and sophomore center Greg Stiemsma ruled academically ineligible for the remainder of the semester, head coach Bo Ryan faced questions Monday in his weekly press conference as to how these events would affect UW's ability to recruit.
While some might believe the Badgers' recent scholastic troubles may have hurt the team's recruiting process, Ryan said it is just the opposite.
'We're talking to people right now that are like, 'First of all, coach, at least you give these guys a chance,'' Ryan said. 'Well, that's me.'
'A guy like me who isn't afraid to go into a lily-white neighborhood isn't afraid to go into places and recruit people and give them a chance if they're qualifiers,' Ryan continued. 'Losing by a point, you lose a game. You lose your eligibility by this much, you think people can learn from that'?
In his statement to the media, Landry, who was averaging six points and just over three rebounds a game, was certainly thankful for the chance to come play at Wisconsin.
'Many kids from [Milwaukee] Vincent High School don't get this opportunity to come and play and even get into a school like this,' Landry said in his Jan. 23 statement. 'I'm one of the students that took on this challenge from Vincent. I'm here and I'm not going to stop fighting.'
Ryan said that he believes Wisconsin is the 'toughest it has ever been to compete in the classroom.' He emphasized that for certain players to even have the chance to compete at the level UW provides, they must be doing something right.
'If you meet some adversity and there's some disappointment, boy, you must have done something then to get to that point to not be able to proceed temporarily,' Ryan said. 'So that's what these two guys are fighting to do. I can live with that, because we do live with it every day.'
Four-way tie
With their loss Saturday to the unranked Wolverines, the Badgers fell into a four-way tie with Illinois, Michigan and Iowa atop the Big Ten. The Badgers are technically fourth in the conference due to their 15-5 overall record.
Ryan is not surprised by the competitive nature of the conference that boasts seven teams within one game of each other.
'We thought it would be a competitive league, it is a competitive league,' Ryan said. 'The coaches and the people that play in this league have never doubted its potential.
With their loss to Michigan Saturday, the men's basketball team (5-2 Big Ten, 15-5 overall) fell out of the top 25 in both the AP and ESPN/USA polls for the first time since the fifth week of the season. UW has lost three out of the last four games, two to unranked opponents.
Wisconsin hosts No. 6 Illinois tonight at 6 p.m. at the Kohl Center.
