Wisconsin
Vos consulting former justices on potential Protasiewicz impeachment
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says former members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court are advising him on the potential impeachment of liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz.
During a Wednesday morning appearance on WISN’s The Jay Weber Show State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said he’s formed a panel of former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices to “review and advise what the criteria are for impeachment” of Justice Protasiewicz if she refuses to recuse herself from lawsuits before the court seeking to overturn GOP drawn voting maps. He said he would not name the justices while their review was underway.
Vos and other Republicans claim Protasiewicz has prejudged the redistricting cases because she called GOP voting maps “rigged” on the campaign trail ahead of defeating conservative former Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly by 11 points.
His comments came the day after a surprise press conference on Tuesday when Vos announced a Republican bill had been introduced to create an “Iowa-style” nonpartisan redistricting process in Wisconsin. Republicans are fast-tracking the bill, which creates a redistricting process similar to one they had previously opposed.
Democrats, including Gov. Tony Evers, quickly voiced opposition to the plan, claiming Vos cannot be trusted. They say legislation could give Republicans a chance to draw their own maps.
Vos told Weber impeachment is the “last thing I want to happen” and would prefer to see Wisconsin’s redistricting rules be changed rather than have the state go through potential court battles over recusal and impeachment.
“But if you have a justice that has predetermined cases and is not going to take themself off the case, I want to know what all of our options are so that we are ready to go if it is required,” Vos said.
State Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard, D-Madison, told WPR it’s “vitally important” to remember that Vos “created gerrymandered maps” and has been unwilling to consider reforming the state’s redistricting process as Democrats and their supporters have called for in the past.
Agard noted Vos and Republicans are set to vote on the redistricting bill Thursday without offering any opportunity for public comment.
Vos accused Democrats of being “hypocrites” for opposing legislation that is similar to what they introduced in 2021, their plan at that time also based on Iowa’s redistricting process.
“If they are so certain that they have a justice in their pocket, because they don’t even want to take an idea that has been their own for 20 years, it certainly says to me that the process in the Supreme Court is even more rigged than what they say the maps are.”
Agard said there’s no guarantee that Democrats would reintroduce their 2021 redistricting bill but are still interested in changing how maps are drawn.
“The Supreme Court would very likely come up with a solution for right now,” Agard said. “But as we move forward after future censuses, we could find ourselves in the same spot. So we need to come up with a long term solution that prevents us from fighting up in the same place again.”
Without Gov. Evers’ support, the GOP redistricting plan appears doomed. It’s also unclear whether Republicans in the State Senate would support it. WPR emails sent to State Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, Tuesday afternoon went unanswered.
While the bill outlines a process that is similar to how Iowa draws it’s voting maps, Senior Staff Attorney Derek Clinger of the University of Wisconsin Madison Law School’s State Democracy Research Initiative told WPR there’s one key difference that “could be exploited for partisan gain.”
He said the GOP legislation would require Wisconsin’s nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau to draw maps that would need to be approved by legislators and the Governor. If lawmakers reject two of the LRB maps, they would be allowed to draw their own maps on a third attempt.
“And I think that would open the door for the legislature adopting a map that gives path an advantage to one party or favors incumbents,”
Vos has downplayed those concerns, claiming Evers could simply veto maps he feels have a Republican advantage. But Clinger said that only works with split-party government.
“I suppose that counts as a check, as long as there’s a Democratic governor,” Clinger said. “But thinking long term, who knows who will be in the governor’s seat the next time or the time after that and the time after that.”
The Wisconsin assembly is scheduled to vote on the Republican redistricting plan at 1 p.m. Thursday.
Former Kentucky OLB Tyreese Fearbry announces transfer to Wisconsin
Wisconsin is now up to 16 transfer portal commitments this month.
The latest to join the Badgers: Tyreese Fearbry, a projected outside linebacker who played the last three seasons at Kentucky.
A former four-star recruit in the 2022 recruiting class, Fearbry chose the Wildcats over offers Auburn, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Miami, among many others, coming out of high school.
Over three seasons, Fearbry had 21 total tackles. This fall, the Pennsylvania native played in 11 of Kentucky’s 12 games and had 14 tackles.
Fearbry is the latest portal commit for the Badgers up front. The staff has already landed defensive linemen Micheal Garner, Parker Petersen, Corey Walker and Charles Perkins, as well as edge Mason Reiger and linebacker Antarron Turner.
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Preview: Wisconsin Closes Nonconference Schedule Hosting Detroit Mercy
Detroit Mercy (5-8, 1-2 Horizon League) vs. Wisconsin (9-3, 0-2 Big Ten)
Date/Time – Sunday, December 22, 1 p.m.
Arena – Kohl Center (16,838)
Watch – Big Ten Network (Jeff Levering and Brian Butch)
Radio – Badgers Radio Network (Matt Lepay and Charlie Wills), Sirius 119 or 195, stream online on iHeartRadio.
Series – Wisconsin leads 3-0 (Wisconsin leads 3-0 in Madison)
Last Meeting – Wisconsin won, 68-42, on December 6, 2003, in Madison
Follow Online: The Badgers’ Den
Twitter: @Badger_Blitz
Betting line: Wisconsin -29.5
Projected Starting Five (Wisconsin)
Player to Watch: After averaging 2.4 points per game last season, Winter has improved to 10.6 ppg this year after scoring a career-high 20 vs. Butler. He leads UW in rebounds (5.6), offensive rebounds (23) and field goal percentage (.598).
Projected Starting Five (Detroit Mercy)
Player to watch: Leading the Titans with 16 points in Wednesday’s loss at Northern Kentucky, Lovejoy has been in double figures in nine of UDM’s 13 games. He leads the team in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals (1.9).
Series Notes
Wisconsin’s average margin of victory in its three prior meetings with UDM is 18.3 points.
The last time Wisconsin and Detroit Mercy met was Dec. 6, 2003, when UW claimed a 68-42 win. Devin Harris and Freddie Owens led the Badgers with 13 points, with Harris adding nine assists.
Wisconsin is 72-4 all-time against teams in the Horizon League. Under head coach Greg Gard, the Badgers hold a 9-0 all-time mark vs. Horizon teams.
The Titans are 30-123 all-time against the Big Ten Conference – 12-81 on the road – and have dropped 18 in a row against the league. The last win was at Michigan State, 68-65, on Dec. 13, 1997.
Wisconsin Notes
Wisconsin is 79-23 (.775) in regular season, non-conference games under Gard.
Wisconsin is 9-1 in non-conference play this season and has the chance to post double-digit out of conference wins for the first time since going 11-2 in 2016-17. The Badgers have tallied four non-conference wins over Power 5 teams, their most since 2018-19.
Wisconsin ranks 11th in the nation with an adjusted offensive efficiency of 120.1 per KenPom – through games played Dec. 18. This year’s adjusted offensive efficiency rating of 120.1 ranks as the school’s third-highest mark since KenPom began tracking in 1999.
UW is averaging 15.2 assists per game, its most since 1993-94, while turning the ball over 9.6 times per game. UW has never had a season in which it has averaged 15+ assists per game while remaining below 10 turnovers per contest.
Wisconsin leads the NCAA in free throw percentage, 84.8% FT (234-for-276) at the line. UW has nearly made more FTs (234) than its foes have attempted (237) this season.
Detroit Mercy Notes
With 11 new players on the 15-man roster, the Titans returned just 14.2 percent of their scoring, 12.9 percent of their rebounding, and 18.0 percent of their minutes played from last season.
The Titans snapped a 22-game road slide with a win at Ball State on November 20.
UDM posted four wins in November, the most in the month since going 4-3 at the start of the 2017-18 season
Detroit Mercy has owned the glass this year, outrebounding its opponents in nine of its 13 games. The Titans are 52nd in the country with 13.2 offensive boards and 74th in DI with a +5.4 rebounding average.
UDM has a 173-107 margin on second-chance points on the season.
Prediction
Calling out a play that involves Crowl getting an early shot attempt in the low post is nothing new for Gard. Off the top of his head, he estimates that getting the ball to Crowl in the low post within Wisconsin’s first three offensive possessions happens 90 percent of the time.
But after being publicly called out by his coach and pushed to be more aggressive by his teammates, Wisconsin intentionally made a call to get Crowl the ball near the low block on the first possession. Seeing him convert by being physical with his back to the basket, unleashing a spin move for an easy bucket was the positive response the staff was looking for.
Crowl’s season-high 18 points against Butler were a catalyst in breaking a three-game losing skid. He did it playing aggressively and in short spurts, playing in just 17 minutes (second-fewest of the season) and going 7-for-10 from the floor (second-most attempts of the year).
“It’s a credit to him,” Gard said. “The 17 minutes that he had, he took full advantage of those.”
The renewed play of Crowl and the growth of Nolan Winter could give Wisconsin a punch to the offense it hasn’t had through the first two months of the season. Crowl and Winter had only reached double figures in the same game once until last Saturday. The duo combined for 38 points and their play helped Wisconsin outscore Butler, 40-to-24, in the paint, its third-highest total for the season and the second-highest paint-scoring differential.
“They play and have pride in playing for what’s on the front of the jersey, knowing that the back of the jersey will get taken care of,” Gard said. “You really get individual accolades through team success. I don’t see a lot of MVP awards being handed out to an 8-25 team.”
Getting to 8-25 would be a huge step forward for Detroit Mercy, which opened last season with a 26-game losing streak and finished 1-31, the worst record in Division-1. Hiring Michigan State assistant Mark Montgomery, who has coached with Tom Izzo on two different occasions, the Titans run some patterns similar to the Spartans in addition to executing three-quarters court pressure and zone.
The Titans also have a good player in Lovejoy, as the transfer from Eastern Michigan is one of 10 Division 1 players who averages 13.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. Detroit ranks 54th nationally in rebounding, averaging just under 40 per game. The problem the Titans are facing is health, as the Titans have three rotation players averaging at least 8.9 ppg out with injuries. The Titans played 10 student-athletes at NKU, six of those were freshmen who accounted for 101 of the 200 minutes as well as 38 of the 60 points and 22 of the 34 boards.
Wisconsin should handle an undermanned unit, as long as the Badgers aren’t overly rusty from finals week.
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MADISON – It appears that the Wisconsin football team will have almost a completely new quarterback room next season.
Mabrey Mettauer, the last scholarship player left at the position on the roster from this season, is expected to enter the transfer portal, according to 247sports. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound true freshman from The Woodlands, Texas, was a consensus four-star recruit coming out of high school.
This season he served as the top backup to Braedyn Locke after Tyler Van Dyke suffered a season-ending knee injury against Alabama. Mettauer appeared in one game and completed his only pass attempt.
He maintained his redshirt status and will have four years of eligibility remaining.
Mabrey’s departure was the last domino to fall from the firing of Phil Longo as offensive coordinator. Like Van Dyke and Locke, Mettauer came to Wisconsin with the idea that he would play in Longo’s pass-friendly offense.
Locke’s brother, Landyn, a member of the 2025 recruiting class, was also recruited by Longo. Landyn Locke has been released from his letter of intent and has re-opened his recruitment.
After 247sports broken the news of Mettauer’s expected departure he reposted the post on his X and Instagram accounts.
The loss of Mettauer means Wisconsin has three scholarship quarterbacks plus walk-on Milos Spasojevic on the roster for next season:
* Billy Edwards Jr., who started this season at Maryland and threw for 2,800 yards. He has one year of eligibility left.
* Danny O’Neil, who started at San Diego State as a true freshman and threw for 2,000 yards this season. He has three years of eligibility remaining.
* Carter Smith, a four-star prospect from Florida, will enroll early and participate in spring practice.
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