(Update) Morning State Sports Briefs: Uthoff to meet with UW Athletic officials today

• University of Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin

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MADISON - Former University of Wisconsin men’s basketball freshman Jarrod Uthoff will meet with UW officials today to appeal restrictions on where he can transfer.

Uthoff will first meet with associate athletic director Justin Doherty, who says Uthoff will have full appeal rights. If he’s not satisfied, the player can meet later today with Athletic Director Barry Alvarez – and members of the UW Athletic Board at a later date. Uthoff recently asked for a release from his scholarship. And Badgers’ coach Bo Ryan ordered that he not receive athletic aid at a number of schools where he could go. Uthoff told ESPN they included all Big Ten schools, which is normal – in-state rival Marquette – all ACC schools, because the UW could play any of them in the Big Ten Challenge – and potential opponent Florida. National commentators have criticized Ryan’s move. One of them quoted Ryan as saying there are rules for a scholarship and quote, “I didn’t make them up.”

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University of Wisconsin men’s basketball coach Bo Ryan went on ESPN Radio this morning to defend the large number of schools that he blocked freshman Jarrod Uthoff from transferring to. Ryan told the “Mike and Mike” show that the national media was vilifying him for something that every other coach in the country has done. Uthoff was recently granted a transfer from the UW, saying he did not fit into Ryan’s system. But when he told an Iowa newspaper that Ryan blocked him from athletic scholarships at 25 other schools, national pundits like Seth Davis and Jay Bilas condemned the coach’s move. Uthoff said he was blocked from playing at all other Big Ten and ACC schools plus Marquette and Iowa State – all potential opponents of Wisconsin’s in the coming years. Ryan and the UW were initially silent on the matter until a national firestorm went on for a couple of days. On ESPN, he said he was fine with Uthoff’s transfer – and Ryan said he’s quote, “given the young man a chance to appeal for the school he really wants to go to.” Uthoff has those appeal proceedings today with UW officials. Ryan also said he acted within the NCAA’s scholarship rules, and players would know them if they read the fine print. Uthoff was Iowa’s “Mr. Basketball” in high school, and was a Rivals’ Top-150 recruit. He redshirted at the UW this past season.

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The Milwaukee Brewers have never swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in a home series – but that would change with a Brewers’ victory this afternoon. Milwaukee won the first two games, both of which ended on close plays at home plate. The Brewers have returned to .500 at 6-and-6, while the Dodgers are at 9-and-3 after coming into Milwaukee with a six-game winning streak. Today, former Dodger Randy Wolf will face Aaron Harang in a 12:10 start. The left-hander Wolf is 0-1 with an early bloated ERA of 10.61. He was tagged for eight runs in four-and-a-third innings last Friday night at Atlanta. But Wolf escaped with a no-decision thanks to some late scoring in a 10-8 Brewers’ loss. He went 1-1 against the Dodgers last season. The Brewers know Harang very well from his days at Cincinnati. The right-hander is 0-and-1 for the Dodgers while giving up almost six earned runs every nine innings. He dropped his last start against San Diego, but he broke a Dodger record by striking out nine Padres in a row.

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Wisconsin’s two teams in the Class-“A” Midwest League are both tied for second place in their division, just two games off the pace. The Beloit Snappers improved to 7-6 with a 6-3 victory over Kane County yesterday. Wisconsin has the same record after pounding Burlington 10-6. The Timber Rattlers and Beloit are both two games the leader in the Western Division, Quad Cities which is 9-4. Lansing still leads the East with an 11-2 mark. New series begin tonight throughout the Midwest League. And inter-division play begins for the first time. Wisconsin is at West Michigan. Beloit travels to South Bend. Lansing is at Burlington. Kane County hosts Fort Wayne. Dayton entertains Quad Cities. Cedar Rapids plays at Bowling Green. Peoria hosts Great Lakes. And Lake County is at Clinton.

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The Milwaukee Bucks’ playoff hopes get dimmer by the day – but they still have a sliver of hope as they play the Pacers tonight in Indianapolis. The Bucks have five regular season games left, and they’re two-and-a-half behind Philadelphia for the final post-season slot in the East. The Pacers have won six straight. The Bucks have lost two in a row – including a six-point home loss to Indiana last Saturday and a nine-point loss at Washington last night. If the Bucks can manage to beat the Pacers, they’ll be two games back from a playoff spot – and they can gain one of those games by winning at home over Philadelphia next week. Bucks’ coach Scott Skiles says every game is a must-win from here on out. He said they picked up the wrong time to have a bad game last night in their loss to the slumping Wizards. Danny Granger has the hot hand for Indiana at the moment. He has averaged 22.5 points a game this month, while shooting 51-percent from three-point range. Monta Ellis scored 31 for Milwaukee last night, but the Pacers have held him to about 17 points in the last five games he has played against them – all losses for his team.

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In golf, Jerry Kelly of Madison was at two-over-par after 11 holes of his opening round at the PGA’s Valero Texas Open. Fox Point native Skip Kendall has a one o’clock tee time at the TPC course in San Antonio. Kelly has had an up-and-down year, while Kendall is trying to finish high enough on the Nationwide Tour money list to return full-time to the PGA Tour in 2013. This is Kendall’s third PGA event this year. He made the weekend cut the first two times. Matt Kuchar and three others were the late morning leaders, all at minus-three.

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The son of legendary Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Head Summitt will become an assistant at Marquette. 21-year-old Tyler Summitt has been named an assistant to Golden Eagles’ women’s coach Terri Mitchell. Tyler Summitt has worked with his mother’s team as a student assistant – and he has coached summer league teams while playing as a walk-on for the Tennessee men’s team. Tyler Summitt will graduate next month from Tennessee with a communications’ degree. Pat Summitt retired yesterday after 38 years with the Lady Vols.

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The Green Bay Packers have the second-easiest schedule in the NFL this year – but it’s arranged in an extremely difficult way. The Packers’ opponents for this fall had a .469 winning percentage a year ago, second only to New England’s opponents at .453. But the schedule announced last night has the Packers playing their first two games in just five days. They’ll open September ninth against San Francisco, in a match of last year’s top two NFC playoff seeds. And then just four nights later on a Thursday, they’ll have what could be their toughest North Division test against the Chicago Bears. But both games are at Lambeau Field, where the Packers have won 13 straight regular season contests. Their first road game isn’t until Week-Three, when they play against their former teammate Matt Flynn at Seattle on a Monday night. In October, they’ll have three straight road games at Indianapolis, Houston, and Saint Louis. And the Packers won’t play their second division game until Week 11, which means that if another team’s contending, the Packers could catch them at their peak. They’ll each play Detroit and Minnesota twice in the final seven weeks, with the second Chicago game in between. And for now, at least, there are five night games – the most allowed in the league schedule.

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Packers’ safety Nick Collins is still getting medical opinions about whether he can resume playing football. And his agent, Alan Herman, does not expect Collins to be ready to make a decision before the NFL Draft that starts a week from tomorrow night. Collins was expected to meet with Packers’ officials soon after he saw the doctor who performed fusion surgery on the herniated disc he suffered last September. That meeting was three weeks ago, but Herman said Collins has yet to receive other medical opinions he’s been expecting. But it could be a moot point if the Packers have already decided that they don’t want him back. Coach Mike McCarthy said last month that if Collins was his son, he wouldn’t let him play football again. And Herman said he personally agreed.

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SCORES

In the Midwest League…

Wisconsin 10, Burlington 6

Beloit 6, Kane County 3

Quad Cities 5, Clinton 4 in 10 innings

Cedar Rapids 5, Peoria 2

Dayton 9, Fort Wayne 4

Bowling Green 5, Great Lakes 4

West Michigan 8, Lake County 5

South Bend 4, Lansing 3

Tags: wisconsin sports, sports, proam