Badgers add walk-on shooter from Illinois to 2016 recruiting class
D'Mitrik Trice and Aleem Ford commanded much of the recruiting attention this weekend after the two prospects from IMG Academy in Florida committed to Wisconsin during their official visits Saturday.
But head coach Greg Gard also added another piece to his 2016 class late Sunday night when Michael Ballard accepted a preferred walk-on offer from the Badgers.
"I have always been a Wisconsin fan and my high school coach mentioned how he thought walking on at Wisconsin would be great for me," Ballard told BadgerBlitz.com. "He was in contact with coach Howard (Moore) and after talking with him, he came out to some of our games this year to watch.
"Coach Howard said Wisconsin would like to have me as a walk-on, and a couple months after that I made my commitment."
A 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Oak Park (Ill.) Fenwick High School, Ballard was on campus this weekend to tour the facilities and meet the coaches.
"The visit was great," said Ballard, who averaged just over 10 points per game as a senior. "I met and talked with coach Gard about the upcoming summer and season. I also met the other assistant coaches, weight trainers and other staff members. The visit ended with meeting and watching some of the guys on the team work out, which was great to see a preview of what the workouts will be like.
"I picked Wisconsin because of the mix of great academics and a historically great basketball program that can compete for a national championship any year. Also, from only meeting with coach Gard two times I can tell he is someone I will learn a lot from."
Ballard, who was also considering opportunities at Michigan and Washington University, is happy to know where he'll be attending school this fall.
"It's very relieving, especially because I'm super excited about the decision I made," he said. "I think I will bring a lot of energy to practice every day and use that to play hard against the first group of guys to try to make us the best possible team that we can be by the end of the year.
"I believe that the guys on the scout team play an important role in getting the whole team prepared for the next team we would play."
