Michael Ballard called it an ideal fit. He liked the school, and the school liked him.
The Fenwick forward was officially admitted to Wisconsin and accepted a preferred walk-on role with the Badgers men’s basketball team on Wednesday, June 8.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pounder averaged 10.3 points and 4.2 rebounds and shot 39 percent from 3-point range for the 28-3 Friars this past season.
“I’m excited to go there, and hopefully after a couple of years and a lot of workouts that I’m hoping to see the court in the future,” Ballard said. “I’ve always been a Wisconsin fan, and the Big Ten would be a fun environment to play in and be on a team, and it’s also a very good academic school.”
Ballard is coming off an injury-marred season in which he missed five games. After shooting 46 percent on 3-pointers in his junior season, Ballard dealt with a sprained right ankle and a lingering injury on his big toe on his left foot.
Fenwick coach Rick Malnati said Ballard’s injuries slowed down his progress. He averaged 15.9 points and 6.4 rebounds in his junior season.
“He kind of played the whole year with an injury,” Malnati said. “He’s a great shooter. He really has a lot of confidence, too. As a junior, he had a ridiculous end to his year. He scored 36 or 38 points a couple of times. He was moving great and on the verge of having a great senior year. He has this foot that was injured and never seemed to get better this year. His movement was stymied this year.
“I thought he was going to completely blow up. He’s moving better now and playing great. I think he just had a nagging injury, and he never healed because he kept playing. He had a great career.”
The Badgers have a rich history of success recruiting overlooked players from the Chicago area, most notably Frank Kaminsky. Ballard said his other options were accepting a preferred walk-on spot at Michigan or playing at Division III Washington University in St. Louis.
“I’m definitely excited to show what I can do,” Ballard said. “I’ve been feeling healthy and feeling great after dealing with nagging injuries all year.”
The Badgers are coming off three consecutive Sweet 16 appearances, including Final Four runs in 2014 and 2015. Ballard is the third member of Wisconsin’s recruiting class of 2016, joining scholarship players Aleem Ford and D’Mitrik Trice.
“We are really excited to welcome Michael to the team,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said in press release. “He is everything we are looking for in a walk-on: hard worker, team player, great student and can hold his own on the court as well. He comes from a winning program at Fenwick and should be a great addition.”
Bob Narang is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @bobnarang
