Uthoff probably won't appeal Big Ten release restrictions

MADISON, Wis. - Jarrod Uthoff probably isn't going to push his luck any further.

The former Cedar Rapids Jefferson all-stater and 2011 Iowa Mr. Basketball sounded Wednesday morning as if he's unlikely to appeal a restriction placed upon his scholarship release from the University of Wisconsin that blocks the rest of the Big Ten Conference from recruiting him.

"I'm not really sure on that, yet," Uthoff said. "Because it looks like that's pretty standard procedure."

His decision to transfer from Wisconsin set off a national firestorm last week when it was learned Wisconsin Coach Bo Ryan barred Marquette, Florida, Iowa State and every school in the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conferences from being able to contact the 6-foot-8 red-shirt freshman. Uthoff formally appealed to Wisconsin athletics officials, and the school relented, cutting the restricted school list to the other 11 Big Ten schools.

Uthoff has until Friday to officially appeal that decision to Wisconsin athletic board president Dale Bjorling. If he does and the restrictions are upheld, his next and final appeal would be to the Big Ten.

"It came out of nowhere," Uthoff chuckled, when asked about the way his story went viral.

He was asked how he was coping with all the attention.

"I'm OK," he said. "I try not to read or listen to anything that's in the media ... The phone calls (from the media) have kind of died down a little bit this week."

Uthoff said his visit Monday to Creighton "went really well." Head coach Greg McDermott recruited him when he was at Iowa State, though he said he had never met all-American forward Doug McDermott (Greg's son) or former Linn-Mar prep Grant Gibbs before.

"Super guys. Awesome guys," Uthoff said. "I like Creighton. It's definitely a program on the rise."

Uthoff said he will visit Iowa State May 3 and 4 but hasn't set up any other official visits, yet, though those are his plans. He wants to come to a final transfer decision soon enough to where he can enroll in summer school.

Though the rest of the Big Ten is on the restricted list for him, that doesn't mean he can't eventually wind up at a conference school. He told The Gazette last week Iowa and Indiana were two of four schools Wisconsin originally nixed when he asked to be able to contact them.

Big Ten rules say if he transfers within the conference, he would lose a year of playing eligibility (though he will anyway considering having to sit out a year as a transfer) and would have to pay for his own tuition for a year before being eligible for an athletics scholarship.

Uthoff said his parents would be willing to foot his college bill for a year if need be.

"They just want me to be happy," he said.