Beaver Dam High School Senior Maty Wilke announced on Tuesday night that she has verbally committed to play NCAA Division One college basketball at the University of Wisconsin. Wilke told DailyDodge.com that a number of factors led her to pick UW out of about 20 scholarship offers. She says the University of Wisconsin is great school that is close to home and she really couldn’t see herself in another jersey. Wilke adds that Coach Jonathan Tsipis offered her a scholarship in 8th grade and she has enjoyed the relationship they’ve built over the last few years. She also likes the culture and family type atmosphere that Tsipis and his staff are building as they try and move up the Big Ten standings. Wilke says she knows she could have had a great career anywhere but had to be a part of the Badger family.
Wilke says that she hadn’t been planning on committing to Wisconsin on Tuesday, but it just happened. She says she knew for a while that Madison was the right fit, so she told the family to put on some Wisconsin gear before calling coach Tsipis via video call to tell him she was ready to be a Badger.
With Wilke’s commitment to the Badgers, it will add even more of the Beaver Dam flavor to the program already oozing with green and gold. BD alums Kara Crowley and Tara Stauffacher were on last year’s squad. Crowley will be graduating early and will not play her season, but Stauffacher returns for her sophomore campaign. 2019 BDHS grad Lanie Roedl is also a manager for the Badger women’s program.
For Wilke, committing to the Badgers ends a long recruiting process that began when she was in middle school. Wilke received her first D1 offer just after 7th grade from North Dakota and they kept coming as the years went by. She said even though the process meant for some long days of juggling communicating with coaches, being in school and just living life, her dream was always to play college basketball and it is a blessing to be in the position she is in.
Wilke is ranked as the #1 player in the class of 2021 in the state by wissports.net and is a two-time Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association All-State pick. During her junior season she averaged 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists per game as Beaver Dam went 23-3. The Golden Beavers had qualified for the WIAA Division Two State Basketball Tournament before it was cancelled because of coronavirus and were looking to become the first girls team in state history to win four straight titles.
So beyond grateful to call Madison my new HOME! Go Badgers❤️🤍🦡 pic.twitter.com/spmq3xkuty
— maty wilke (@MatyWilke) August 4, 2020
Click the link to hear a full interview with Maty Wilke
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