Bad basketball

With the Wisconsin prep basketball season 1/4 finished, it's pretty apparent hoops outside of Madison, Milwaukee and Seymour is pretty weak.

Two weeks ago, Amherst drilled a helpless Tri-County girls' team 76-15. No that wasn't a misprint. Fifteen points? Area elementary schools score more points than that in recess.

The Appleton East-Appleton West girls' game combined for 39 turnovers. And the Terrors are supposed to be the cream of the crop this year in the FVA.

Before that, Wrightstown and Freedom traded bricks before the Freedom boys were able to win a free throw contest that saw the Irish win because the Tigers couldn't move their feet on defense and put them in a bonus shooting situation very early.

This isn't a spur of the moment thing. It's more of an epidemic. The only Valley team that is consistently good is Seymour. They continually make reservations for Madison in March, and could play with any team at anytime.

With Marquette, Wisconsin and even Wisconsin-Milwaukee doing better than expectations, it's a surprise that the high school talent isn't there to fill those college needs. There will always be the double-digit D-III schools that pepper this state's landscape, but the premier players don't collect their mail in the Valley.

And don't give me the Brian Butch argument. Here's a kid that's 6-11 and his twiggy frame is still getting pushed around in the Big Ten. With Michigan State center Paul Davis gone, he will be called upon to lead the Badgers past freshman Greg Oden and Ohio State. However, that hope will likely get dashed when Butch's lack of athleticism and ferocity wilt under huge expectations.

Butch is a great example because he has been earmarked as the Valley's Hoop Savior. With the attention he garnered from schools like North Carolina, his AAU team, the Fox Valley Skillz, has seen kids from as far away as Madison on the roster.

I'm sure Roy Williams is glad he didn't sign Butch, because he's got this Tyler Hansborough kid that is playing like he wears shoulder pads. Which is somthing Badgers coach Bo Ryan would love to see.

College basketball is pretty darn good in Wisconsin, but it's not because there's been a surplus of talent in the Valley. There will always be the countless number of Lawrence and Wisconsin-Oshkosh kids that are solid hard workers that have excelled in other sports.

But, it's just not good enough.