Junior Kim Royston was a valuable contributor on the University of Wisconsin football team last season, playing on the No. 1 nickel defense and on special teams.

But he also was stuck on the depth chart behind junior free safety Shane Carter which, apparently, was enough for Royston to meet with UW coach Bret Bielema and tell him of his intention to transfer.

Royston was not at Thursday morning's practice and junior Chris Maragos, a transfer from Western Michigan who was a receiver on the scout team last year, moved from strong safety to work as the No. 2 free safety.

It didn't take Maragos long to make his presence felt. He got his hands on a couple balls and intercepted a pass late in practice from quarterback James Stallons that was intended for Isaac Anderson.

"We really didn't know what he'd be best at, strong safety or free safety," Bielema said. "The one thing that's really apparent, he's got good ball skills."

Royston came to UW from Cretin-Derham Hall High School in Minneapolis as a cornerback, before moving to safety last season. Bielema said the decision to transfer was not yet official, but that just seemed to be a formality.

"I haven't had a final conversation with him yet, but that's where he was leaning," Bielema said. There were no indications Royston was unhappy, although Bielema said he was not caught off guard by the decision.

"He's had some trouble since he's been here," Bielema said. "He wants to be a one and he's not in that position at this point."

What makes Royston's situation a little unusual is he was getting considerable playing time.

"It comes to a point, if you don't want to be here, we don't want you in the program," Bielema said. "You've got to do what's best for every kid individually. There are two kids on the field right now that have come in my office at one point during their careers and said they were going to leave and now they're starting.

"That's the point you have to kind of make every kid understand. It's easy (to leave), there's rough spots, everybody wants to be on the field, but what you have to do is explain the situation."

Bielema said in his experience at UW, as well as previous coaching jobs at Iowa and Kansas State, players who have left, rarely found the greener pastures they sought.

"Any time a kid has left our program and transferred to another school, it's never been anything like they thought it would be," he said. "Whether it's a year later, or five years later, (they) come back and say, 'I wish I would have stayed where I was at.' "

Surgery for Newkirk

Senior defensive tackle Mike Newkirk is scheduled to undergo surgery on his left shoulder today, which will force him to miss six to eight weeks, including the remainder of spring practice.

Bielema said Newkirk's injury is not as severe as injuries to tight ends Travis Beckum and Garrett Graham, who also are sitting out this spring after shoulder surgeries.

"The reason we're doing it now, instead of waiting until after spring ball, we start our summer conditioning program the second week of June and (Newkirk) should be full-go for that," Bielema said.