The Russell Wilson derby has finally concluded. After months of wooing the former North Carolina State quarterback made his decision Tuesday afternoon to take his talents to Madison this fall to play for Bret Bielema and the Wisconsin football team.
Wilson committed to the Badgers over playing for the reigning national champion Auburn Tigers or continuing his season with the Asheville Tourists—the Class A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.
The former Wolfpack star, a second team All-ACC performer last season, has been weighing the merits behind focusing solely on his baseball career or playing one last season of college football for a few months now. Wilson, a fourth round pick of the Rockies in last summer's MLB Draft, was released from the NC State program at the end of last season in order to look for another school as it was no secret the Wolfpack coaches weren't pleased with their quarterback's want to pursue a career in baseball.
Because he graduated from NC State in three years he is able to transfer to Wisconsin and be eligible to play immediately. He will enroll in graduate school at UW this fall.
Wilson was a star for the Wolfpack under center last season throwing for 3,563 yards 28 touchdown passes as well as 435 yards and 9 touchdowns on the ground.
""For you Big Ten fans unfamiliar with new Badgers QB Russell Wilson: he's good. That is all,"" ESPN the Magazine college football writer Ryan McGee tweeted.
Wilson visited campus in late June, a visit that one UW official described as a ""grand slam.""
""Russell will come in and compete for the starting quarterback position,"" Bielema said. ""This is an unusual situation, especially for a program that prides itself on developing players throughout their careers, as we do here at Wisconsin. However, this is a special situation and Russell is the type of player and person that fits very well with our team.""
With Wilson now in the fold the Badgers' quarterback situation looks a lot more stable than it did yesterday. Bielema faced an uncertain situation under center for this season with unproven commodities sophomore Jon Budmayr and freshman Joe Brennan competing for the job during spring practices. Wilson will face a challenge to get acquainted with the Wisconsin playbook on offense in a short amount of time before camp starts in two weeks.
Wisconsin returns much of its talent on the offensive side of the ball from last year's team that won a share of the Big Ten title and went to the Rose Bowl, couple that with all of the offseason turmoil at Ohio State and many are calling a Wilson-led Badgers team favorites in what is expected to be a wide open Big Ten race.
