Wisconsin basketball veteran forward enters NCAA transfer portal
Wisconsin veteran forward Chris Hodges entered the NCAA transfer portal on Wednesday.
The graduate transfer played four seasons with the Badgers after originally joining the program as a three-star recruit in the class of 2021, committing over other offers from DePaul, Loyola, Miami (OH) and Rutgers.
Hodges redshirted on Wisconsin's 2021-22 Big Ten title team before appearing in 40 games over the next three seasons. He was a reserve forward through that time, playing just 30, 21 and 15 total minutes as a redshirt freshman, sophomore and junior, respectively. The former three-star recruit tallied four total points, nine rebounds, two assists, a steal and four blocks in that limited playing time.
The Schaumburg, Illinois, native enters the portal with a final year of eligibility remaining. He is the third Badger to transfer since the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, following veteran guard Camren Hunter and former top recruit Daniel Freitag. Those three follow a large departing senior class of Max Klesmit, Kamari McGee, Carter Gilmore, Steven Crowl, John Tonje and Markus Ilver.
Wisconsin has yet to land a transfer commitment at this early stage in the cycle. That may change in the coming days, as the program was recently predicted to edge North Carolina for a top-ranked guard and is a finalist for a sharpshooting freshman forward.
For more on those pursuits and Wisconsin's other transfer targets, check out our 2025 transfer interest tracker.
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Associated Press
42 minutes ago
- Associated Press
NCAA fines Michigan millions, adds game suspension for Moore over sign-stealing scandal
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'The panel concluded that an elaborate, impermissible scouting scheme was embedded in the Michigan football program over the course of three football seasons, 2021, 2022 and 2023, and this occurred under former head coach Jim Harbaugh's oversight,' said Norman Bay, chief hearing officer for the Division I Committee on Infractions. 'What makes this case even more serious, in addition to the clear intent to impermissibly gain a substantial competitive advantage, is the elaborate effort to obstruct the investigation.' Moore, who is facing a school-imposed two-game suspension this season, will also sit out the first game of the 2026-27 season for a total of three games. Moore received a two-year show-cause order, but will be allowed to fulfill coaching commitments under the NCAA order. The biggest blow came from the financial penalties, which are expected to exceed $20 million. 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'(R)espectfully, in a number of instances the decision makes fundamental errors in interpreting NCAA bylaws; and it includes a number of conclusions that are directly contrary to the evidence – or lack of evidence – in the record,' the school said. Athletic director Warde Manuel added that 'a postseason ban should never have been a consideration in this case. I fully support the university's decision to pursue an appeal.' The scheme Harbaugh has always maintained he knew nothing about the scheme. NCAA investigators were clearly skeptical. 'Aspects of the record suggest that there may have been broader acceptance of the scheme throughout the program,' the report says. 'At a minimum, there was a willful intent not to learn more about Stalions' methods. However, the true scope and scale of the scheme -- including the competitive advantage it conferred -- will never be known due to individuals' intentional destruction and withholding of materials and information.' The NCAA does not have rules against stealing signs, but does prohibit schools from sending scouts to the games of in-season opponents and using electronic equipment to record another team's signals. The scheme run by Stalions, the NCAA said, was elaborate and detailed – in fact, the NCAA said, Stalions described it as 'counterintelligence' and his network of helpers was referred to as the 'KGB,' a nod to the Soviet-era spy service. During the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons, 'Stalions directed and arranged for individuals to conduct off-campus, in-person scouting of Michigan's future regular season opponents,' the NCAA report said, noting that he bought their tickets and saying he spent some $35,000 in 2022 alone. 'While in attendance, they filmed the signal callers on the future opponents' sidelines and then provided that film to Stalions. Using the footage they collected, Stalions then deciphered their signals. 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Stalions, who did not participate in the NCAA investigation, recently said he knew almost every signal opponents used in seven games over two seasons. The NCAA said the efforts to cover up the scheme included Stalions and other Michigan employees. 'Stalions himself described smashing his phone into 1,000 pieces and throwing it into a pond, providing false and misleading information during interviews, telling a potential witness to lie when interviewed, and some staff members, most notably Harbaugh not participating in interviews at all,' Bay said. 'Moore deleted his entire 52 message text thread with Stalions from his personal phone. Harbaugh failed to cooperate by refusing to provide necessary records or participating in interviews with NCAA enforcement staff.' The coaches In a notice sent to the school last year, the NCAA alleged that Moore violated rules as an assistant under Harbaugh. The text messages with Stalions were recovered and provided to the NCAA. Harbaugh, who left the Wolverines after they won the 2023 national championship, served a three-game suspension in exchange for the Big Ten dropping its investigation into the allegations after the two ended up in court. The NCAA also noted unrelated recruiting violations were part of the mix, violations that got Harbaugh that initial show-cause order. The NCAA said those involved lower-level staffers communicating with four recruits. 'The scouting scheme and recruiting violations in the football program demonstrate that Harbaugh violated the principles of head coach responsibility,' the NCAA said. 'Harbaugh did not embrace or enforce a culture of compliance during his tenure, and his program had a contentious relationship with Michigan's compliance office, leading coaches and staff to disregard NCAA rules.' The Wolverines open the season on Aug. 30 at home against New Mexico State and then play at Oklahoma, where Moore was an offensive lineman, on Sept. 6. 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