Wisconsin
John Blackwell Hitting His Stride as Wisconsin's Starting Point Guard
MADISON, Wis. – Kamari McGee is as close to being an expert at point guard as the University of Wisconsin has on its roster.
The fourth-year senior excelled at the position at Racine (Wis.) St Catherine’s High School and won a state championship in 2020, thrived as a true freshman when he earned freshman all-conference honors at Green Bay, and been a steady contributor as the reserve at Wisconsin. He knows what works at the position.
That’s why McGee continues to be in awe of sophomore John Blackwell’s impact as the Badgers’ primary facilitator, ball handler, and igniter in his first season at the position.
“I’ve been seeing it game by game,” said McGee, answering the question sitting next to Blackwell after the sophomore scored a career-high 32 points in a win over Iowa. “He wasn’t used to playing the point guard for us specifically. He was coming off the bench (last year), getting into that role of just being a scorer, but each game he’s gotten better each time.
“People may say he’s not a point guard. Honestly, in today’s game, there aren’t really any point guards. He’s just a good playmaker and a great scorer for us.”
Fresh off back-to-back 20+ point games to get Wisconsin (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten) back to even in the Big Ten conference, Blackwell is starting to emerge as one of the Big Ten’s most complete guards. His 15.8 points per game is 13th in the league. He’s averaging 6.5 rebounds in conference play and has
“He’s just really complete,” head coach Greg Gard said of Blackwell. “He has a nose for the ball and got some toughness to him. He is a complete player. He does everything and he understands that. He understood that day one as a freshman last year. That’s what allowed him to get on the court so early. He understood the importance of little things.”
Blackwell put on a master class on Friday, scoring from all three levels against Iowa’s leaky defense. He was 5-for-6 from two-point range by either showing touch with mid-range pull-up jumpers or putting his shoulder down to get at and finish at the rim.
He was 3-for-21 from the perimeter over his previous seven games but confidently hit 6 of 10 from behind the arc. He made all four free attempts and tied his career-high with five assists against two turnovers, having no problem against a man-to-man or zone defense.
It was more workmanlike Monday at Rutgers but still efficient with an 8-for-15 night (7-for-11 on twos) and 4-for-4 from the line. Entering Friday’s game against Minnesota (8-7, 0-4), Blackwell is shooting 50 percent from the floor.
“I have confidence in my coaches and my teammates,” Blackwell said. “They trust me. They know how good I am, and I know how good I’ve worked.”
The implantation of Name, Image, and Likeness deals and the freedom of movement with the transfer porter have removed most of the guarantees in roster building. So, Gard didn’t have much time to wallow when Chucky Hepburn, his three-year starter at point guard, left for a reported $750,000 deal with Louisville.
The Badgers added Camren Hunter from the portal, but the Central Arkansas transfer didn’t play last season and was slowed by picking up the system and battled illness throughout November. UW inked highly ranked point guard Daniel Freitag but showed in the preseason he wasn’t ready for the role.
The staff also considered starting McGee, but Gard wanted to keep the senior as an energy boost off the bench (it’s worked with McGee shooting 55.2 percent from three with a 3.8 assist-to-turnover ratio).
Wanting a point guard who could push the ball in transition while still having an eye for scoring, Gard and his staff looked toward Blackwell, whose 45.5 3-point percentage was the best of any freshman in program history with at least 60 attempts. Despite playing just 18.5 minutes per game, Blackwell led the team in scoring four times.
While showing flashes in intrasquad scrimmages, Blackwell reportedly took over with the ball in his hands in the second half of UW’s closed scrimmage with Northern Iowa. He pushed tempo, created opportunities for himself and others, and the offense hummed.
“It was a tell-tell sign for us,” Gard said. “We had thought about it as a staff, talked about it, experimented a little bit. We had to stop dipping our toe in the water and really jump in with that and making a full commitment to him having the ball as much as we could.”
One of Blackwell’s first conversations after being informed of his role was with McGee, who has mentored him at every step.
“Killer was just in my ear,” Blackwell said. “Showing me all the support, telling me all the plays from the point guard spot, the ways I can score and still facilitate, and these guys trusting me with the ball in my hands, so credit to them.”
Of course, there have been bumps in the road. Blackwell had five assists to nine turnovers in losses to Michigan and Marquette. In the road loss at Illinois, Blackwell was limited to 22 minutes and fouled out. More frustrating for Gard was Blackwell had zero assists and felt that offense was stagnating for long stretches.
The film review was blunt and straightforward: be aggressive, make things happen with the ball in his hands, and be a confident facilitator.
Over the last four games, Blackwell has responded with 18 assists and only seven turnovers. In his words, he’s helped Wisconsin play “the right basketball” by moving the ball, having high assist numbers, and playing collectively as a unit.
“He’s got a lot on his plate,” Gard said. “It’s easy to try to take a break at times because maybe he needs one. I need to do a better job of getting him in and getting him out. His numbers of assists, even in practice, have jumped. That tells me he’s more comfortable.”
Wisconsin
Insider: Wisconsin Man Charged With Possession Of Virtual Child Pornography
POLK COUNTY (DrydenWire) – An investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation, into multiple cybertips from Google about suspected child sexual abuse materials has resulted in felony charges for a Wisconsin Man.
Cody Struemke, age 27, of Amery, WI, is facing nearly a dozen charges for possessing child pornography, including Felony Possession of Virtual Child Pornography.
The criminal complaint against him alleges that Struemke saved a photo from Facebook of juveniles known to him, and digitally edited the photo to make it appear they were nude.
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Wisconsin
Wisconsin health professionals share tips to protect against respiratory illnesses
MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) -Respiratory illness season has begun in Wisconsin, with health professionals reporting increased flu cases and higher demand for medications and vaccines.
Over-the-counter medicines are flying off the shelves at Forward Pharmacy in McFarland, according to manager Tony Peterangelo.
“We’ve had to increase like how much of some of that stuff we’ve kept on hand,” Peterangelo said. “We had to make some special orders to really bulk up on some of it too.”
Upland Hills physician Benjamin Hecht said the respiratory illness season typically begins after Thanksgiving.
“As of right now, we are just starting in the last week or two to see some Influenza A. Last year was a pretty tough flu year for us, influenza in Wisconsin. It’s still to be seen how severe of a year this is going to be in 2025-26,” he said.
Respiratory viruses are hard to avoid according to the Upland Hills physician.
“You can wear masks and wash your hands a ton, but you’re going to get exposed to these viruses at some point,” Dr. Hecht said.
RSV poses concern for young children
Dr. Hecht said another concern this season is RSV, particularly for young children with developing immune systems.
“The kids that get this, especially the really young kids, that don’t have a mature immune system, they can get pretty sick from RSV. That’s a particularly scary one. If you’re in a position where you qualify to get that vaccination or perhaps your kids do, please consider that,” Dr. Hecht said.
Forward Pharmacy is meeting demand for vaccines, which Peterangelo said can help protect against viruses.
“All of that stuff reduces the need to scramble on the back end to get antibiotics and cough suppressants. It doesn’t completely reduce your risk, but it reduces it enough that your likelihood of getting that is down,” Peterangelo said.
The pharmacy has given out dozens of flu and covid shots in a day.
“I would say maybe in the 60 to 80 range,” Peterangelo said.
Dr. Hecht said influenza B will come later in the season. He recommends people with severe respiratory symptoms like breathing troubles to see a doctor.
“The big thing is just living a healthy lifestyle, staying well hydrated, getting good sleep, doing what you can with physical activity and exercise to make sure your immune system is in tip top shape,” Dr. Hecht said.
According to new CDC data, doctor visits for flu-like symptoms rose to more than 3% in the last two weeks. The majority of flu cases are caused by a mutated strain that causes more severe illness, particularly among older adults.
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Wisconsin
Former Trump aides appear in Wisconsin court over 2020 election fraud charges
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Two attorneys and an aide who all worked on President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign appeared in court Monday for a preliminary hearing in Wisconsin on felony forgery charges related to a fake elector scheme.
The Wisconsin case is moving forward even as others in the battleground states of Michigan and Georgia have faltered. A special prosecutor last year dropped a federal case alleging Trump conspired to overturn the 2020 election. Another case in Nevada is still alive.
The Wisconsin case was filed a year ago but has been tied up as the Trump aides have fought, unsuccessfully so far, to have the charges dismissed.
The hearing on Monday comes a week after Trump attorney Jim Troupis, one of the three who were charged, tried unsuccessfully to get the judge to step down in the case and have it moved to another county. Troupis, who the other two defendants joined in his motion, alleged that the judge did not write a previous order issued in August declining to dismiss the case. Instead, he accused the father of the judge’s law clerk, a retired judge, of actually writing the opinion.
Troupis, who served one year as a judge in the same county where he was charged, also alleged that all of the judges in Dane County are biased against him and he can’t get a fair trial.
Dane County Circuit Judge John Hyland said he and a staff attorney alone wrote the order. Hyland also said Troupis presented no evidence to back up his claims of bias and refused to step down or delay the hearing.
Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the allegations.
The same judge will determine at Monday’s hearing whether there’s enough evidence to proceed with the charges against the three.
The former Trump aides face 11 felony charges each related to their roles in the 2020 fake elector scheme. In addition to Troupis, the other defendants are Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney who advised Trump’s campaign, and Mike Roman, Trump’s director of Election Day operations in 2020.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice, headed by Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, brought the felony forgery charges in 2024, alleging that the three defrauded the 10 Republican electors who cast their ballots for Trump in 2020.
Prosecutors contend the three lied to the Republicans about how the certificate they signed would be used as part of a plan to submit paperwork to then-Vice President Mike Pence, falsely claiming that Trump had won the battleground state that year.
The complaint said a majority of the 10 Republicans told investigators that they were needed to sign the elector certificate indicating Trump had won only to preserve his legal options if a court changed the outcome of the election in Wisconsin.
A majority of the electors told investigators that they did not believe their signatures on the elector certificate would be submitted to Congress without a court ruling, the complaint said. Also, a majority said they did not consent to having their signatures presented as if Trump had won without such a court ruling, the complaint said.
Federal prosecutors who investigated Trump’s conduct related to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot said the fake electors scheme originated in Wisconsin.
The Trump associates have argued that no crime took place. But the judge in August rejected their arguments in allowing the case to proceed to Monday’s preliminary hearing.
Trump lost Wisconsin in 2020 but fought to have the defeat overturned. He won the state in both 2016 and 2024.
The state charges against the Trump attorneys and aide are the only ones in Wisconsin. None of the electors have been charged. The 10 Wisconsin electors, Chesebro and Troupis all settled a lawsuit that was brought against them seeking damages.
___
This story has been corrected to show that the attorneys who are charged formerly worked on Trump’s campaign, but are still practicing attorneys.
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