So who was that mystery player on the bench Wednesday night when the UW men's basketball team beat Bemidji State 90-54 at the Kohl Center?
That was J.D. Wise, a former standout at Dominican High School in Whitefish Bay, Wis. who is in the process of joining the team as a walk-on, Bucky's 5th Quarter has learned.
According to multiple sources close to the team, Wise, who is in his second year as a UW-Madison student, tried out for the team last week along with a few other students. Wise was on the bench Wednesday night wearing a Wisconsin warm-up shirt, the typical apparel worn by UW players who know they won't be playing that night.
Wise is in the process of passing a physical and filling out the necessary paperwork before he can officially join the team. He will cap UW's roster at 16 players and will not be able to travel with the team. NCAA rules only permit 15 players to travel with the team to road games.
Former walk-on Jeremy Glover, who was dismissed from the team in September and saw his appeal denied Wednesday afternoon, was in attendance at last week's tryout but simply watched from the sidelines, according to one of the sources.
Wise was an honorable mention on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's 2007-08 All-Area team when he was a senior at Dominican.