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Wisconsin men’s basketball: Chris Hodges, Matthew Mors to use redshirt

The two big men will now have a year to get stronger and learn the intricacies of college hoops.

By Drew Hamm
UW-Whitewater v Wisconsin
Freshman Matthew Mors taking it to the hole against Whitewater two week ago in an exhibition game.
Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images

On Tuesday evening, directly before the season opener against St. Francis Brooklyn, Wisconsin Badgers freshmen Chris Hodges and Matthew Mors announced that they will be taking a redshirt season this year. Per a UW press release:

“I decided to take this a redshirt season as an opportunity to continue to grow and develop another year as a student-athlete,” Hodges said. “I’m still really excited about what this year will bring and the blessing of being connected with my teammates, coaches and the staff here at Wisconsin.”

“After talking with Coach Gard, the staff and my family, I thought it would be best for me in the long run to redshirt this season,” Mors said. “In order to get my body ready and get prepared for this level of play, both mentally and physically, I felt this was the best decision for me now.”

Hodges joined the Wisconsin program as a four-star recruit in the 2021 class, after not play his senior season of high school due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a junior in 2019, Hodges was named Mid-Suburban League West Player of the Year at Schaumburg High School and earned second-team Class 4A All-State honors as well as MSL all-conference and all-area awards. He averaged 15.5 points (69.8% FG), 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game as a junior.

A three-time South Dakota Gatorade Player of the Year and four-star recruit, Mors set the all-time Class AA boys scoring record amassing over 2,000 points during his prep career. As a senior, Mors averaged 24.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.9 blocks per game.

This is not a huge shock as there aren’t many minutes in the frontcourt for either player this season. It is nice to see that Mors and Hodges think they can succeed at Wisconsin in the future and aren’t thinking about the transfer portal even though they aren’t getting playing time right away. Many great Wisconsin men’s basketball players have taken a redshirt year and it’ll be interesting to follow the careers of Mors and Hodges.

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