UW basketball: Memorial's Blue commits to Badgers
Vander Blue, a talented sophomore guard who led Madison Memorial to the WIAA state tournament last March, has verbally committed to play basketball for the University of Wisconsin.
"I've been discussing it the last couple of weeks with my family. We took a visit up there and we really are excited about the whole thing," said Blue in a phone conversation Monday night. "There's a lot of good news about Wisconsin and, looking at the background and what's coming in the future, by the time I get there it's going to be a real good fit for me."
The 6-3, 185-pound Blue averaged 12.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game last season while leading Memorial to the WIAA Division 1 state title game. He was named to the Associated Press all-tournament team.
Blue also was an AP all-state honorable mention selection and received votes for the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Division 1 All-State team. He earned Big Eight Conference second-team honors.
Blue's mother, Rita Blue, said her son was also considering Indiana, Marquette and Kentucky.
"He's a smart, heady basketball player," said Shelton Kingcade, the long-time coach of the Madison Spartans AAU team that Blue plays for along with several other Madison area preps.
Kingcade believes Blue, who is often unstoppable on his drives to the rim, could end up being the best basketball player to come out of the Madison area. "He has an unbelievable sense of court awareness and an undeniable desire of basketball, period," Kingcade said. "One of his heroes is Lebron James and he patterns himself after the way Lebron plays the game.
Blue said he made the decision early so he won't be distracted the rest of his high school career and can focus on academics and playing basketball with his friends.
"I don't want to be one of those people who, in my senior year, is stressing myself out trying to figure out what college I'm going to," he said. "I have a great opportunity right in front of me that I can take and will benefit me in the long run. So I can get the decision over with and just have fun for the rest of my high school career and keep my grades up."
Blue plans to skip some tournaments this summer so he can attend summer school to bolster his grades.
"I want to get my core GPA up higher so my performance on my ACT won't have to be as high. I'm still going to strive for the highest I can get on the ACT regardless," Blue said.
"It's not mandatory for me to go, but I feel that, with me wanting to be a student-athlete, I should be attending summer school," he added. "I'm going to give up a couple of basketball tournaments and get my grades right so it will help me in the long run."
Blue said that he has been a Wisconsin fan his whole life. "I like Devin Harris, I like Trevon Hughes. And Bo Ryan, from me talking to him myself, I think he's a really nice guy. He's not fake. He's always been real to me," he said.
Kingcade told UW assistant coach Howard Moore of Blue's decision Monday night.
"Vander understands the fact that he'll have to earn everything he gets at the UW, but he likes the odds of him being able to play there and stay close to home where his mom and granddad and his family down in Milwaukee will get to see him play," Kingcade said. "He's very excited about the opportunity to play there."
Kingcade said Blue told him of his decision to commit to play for the Badgers while leading the Spartans to a 3-1 record at the King James Shooting Stars tournament in Akron, Ohio this past weekend. Blue averaged about 19 points per game as he carried the Spartans offensively and defensively, Kingcade said.
"Bo Ryan was at all of our games this weekend. They have taken a very serious interest in Vander and Vander liked that," Kingcade said.
Mike DeVries/The Capital Times
Bo Ryan and the UW men's basketball team got a verbal commitment from Madison Memorial sophomore guard Vander Blue Monday night.
