2012 Rose Bowl: Russell Wilson Leads Wisconsin Against Oregon After Leaving Colorado Rockies

Wisconsin Badgers quarterback Russell Wilson has had quite a year. After winning the Champ Sports Bowl against the West Virginia Mountaineers, 23-7, on Dec. 28, 2010, Wilson appeared ready to give up the gridiron with the N.C. State Wolfpack for the baseball diamond. A few weeks later he committed to the Colorado Rockies, who drafted him in Round 4 of the 2010 MLB Draft. He played a bit that summer before returning to the Wolfpack.

Wilson started the 2011 season with the Low-A Asheville Tourists. He struggled mightily and by May rumors of his returning to football began. At the end of June, Wilson had settled on Wisconsin. He finished his baseball season hitting .228/.366/.342 in 61 games. Wilson was a raw baseball player who was adjusting to being an everyday player and using a wood bat. He had to return a large portion of his signing bonus and was placed on the restricted list.

Wilson went on to an 11-2 record, a Big Ten Championship and the Rose Bowl -- all in his only season in Madison, WI. He completed 206-of-284 passes for 2,879 yards with 31 touchdowns and three touchdowns. He could certainly be one of the lesser candidates for the 2011 Heisman Trophy.

Wilson will attempt to make it in the NFL, but the CFL has also been talked about during the summer. The Rockies would certainly welcome him back into the organization if he wanted to pursue baseball again.

Visit Bucky's 5th Quarter for more on Wilson and the Badgers. Addicted to Quack has you covered for Oregon. For news and notes from around college football, head over to SB Nation's college football hub.

Wisconsin's Russell Wilson Dismantles Oregon State In 35-0 Victory

Ex-Rockie Russell Wilson Makes Thrilling Wisconsin Football Debut

Russell Wilson Could Return To Baseball After Wisconsin Football Ends

With Russell Wilson headed to the Wisconsin Badgers for his senior year of football, the Colorado Rockies have will wait to see how his future on the gridiron turns out. The Rockies placed him on the minor league restricted list, meaning that they control his rights should he wish to return to the diamond.

It had been widely speculated that if he returned to college football that Wilson would need to return a large portion of his signing bonus. However, according to the Denver Post's Troy Renck, that will only happen if Wilson doesn't return next spring. He would give up nearly half of the $200,000 he received as a fourth-round selection in 2010.

The Rockies will now follow his fall season with the Badgers, venture to discover his future in either the NFL or the CFL and persuade him to return to baseball. If that happens, he would return to Asheville, where he hit just .228 in three months.

Visit Bucky's 5th Quarter for more on Wisconsin's reactions and thoughts on picking up Russell Wilson.

Russell Wilson Has Already Left Asheville Tourists On Heels Of Coming Wisconsin Transfer Announcement

With his transfer to the Wisconsin Badgers ready to be made, Russell Wilson is wasting no time in go all in with the football team. He has already left the Colorado Rockies' Low-A Asheville Tourists for the season. He ends his season at .228/.366/.342 through 61 games with five doubles, four triples and three home runs. While he managed to swipe 15 stolen bases when he was able to reach, Wilson struggled in the batter's box with 82 strikeouts in 193 at-bats.

This does not bode well for his future as a baseball player, as he would likely have headed to fall instructional league to help improve his approach at the plate. As it stands now, Wilson appears inclined to work on an NFL career. The Rockies will probably put him on a restricted/reserve list to control him indefinitely. If he ever wants to come back to baseball, the Rockies will be where he does it.

Visit Bucky's 5th Quarter for more on Wisconsin's reactions and thoughts on picking up Russell Wilson.

Russell Wilson Chooses Wisconsin Football, According To Report

With a July 1 deadline coming soon for Russell Wilson to choose between baseball or football, it appears that he has chosen the Wisconsin Badgers, according to SportsCenter. This should become official on Monday afternoon when Wilson makes the announcement on ESPN's College Football Live at 1:30 p.m. MT.

Wilson will now play the rest of July with the Colorado Rockies' Low-A Asheville Tourists before leaving for fall camp in Madison. Wilson will need to learn a new playbook while he gets accommodated to his new surroundings and teammates.

Wilson is hitting .228/.366/.342 through 61 games this season. He will now need to return a significant portion of the reported $250,000 signing bonus he received from the Rockies in 2010 after being selected in the fourth round. If Wilson plans to pursue and NFL or even CFL career, Wilson's (as of now) sputtering baseball career could be at an end.

Visit Bucky's 5th Quarter for more on Wisconsin's reactions and thoughts on possibly picking up Russell Wilson.

Russell Wilson Confirms July 1 Decision Date For Baseball Or Football

After reports late last week stated that Colorado Rockies prospect Russell Wilson was set to make his decision on or before July 1, it has now been confirmed by Wilson that that is his target date. As he told the Asheville Citizen-Times on Friday:

"I have to make a decision on what I’m going to do, and I hope to do that no later than July 1," said Wilson, who confirmed publicly for the first time that he will choose either Auburn or Wisconsin if the decision is football.

Auburn and Wisconsin had been the only two schools that Wilson visited once it became known that he wanted back in to college football, though he was at least contacted by several other teams. Either school makes sense, as both have openings at quarterback.

Auburn won the 2010 BCS title and needs to replace Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Cam Newton, but it will also need a number of young players to step up if they want to avoid falling behind in a tough SEC this year. Wisconsin quarterback Scott Tolzien graduated and there is little experience left at the position. With Ohio State's troubles entering this season, Wisconsin should have a good shot at winning their division to play in the Big 10's championship game.

As for Wilson's baseball career, neither side appears to want to put a sour face on all of this, but the Rockie have invested much in him and don't want to see that wasted.

Visit Bucky's 5th Quarter for more on Wisconsin's reactions and thoughts on possibly picking up Russell Wilson.

Russell Wilson Reportedly Set To Make Football Decision Before July 1

In a saga that has dragged on for several months already, Colorado Rockies infielder Russell Wilson is set to make his decision on football or baseball and, if the former, which school (Auburn Tigers or Wisconsin Badgers) before July 1, reports Andy Baggot of Madison.com. I need to echo the sentiments of Bucky's 5th Quarter on this development:

This really is the never-ending story. Just when you think the news about former NC State quarterback Russell Wilson is calming down, they throw a new rumor at us.

First it was that Wilson wanted to return to college football. Then it was that he was interested in Auburn and Wisconsin. He visited Auburn and then nothing happened. He spent time at Wisconsin and supposedly it was so great of a visit that he chose Wisconsin. Except he didn't. Then it wasn't really a matter of which school (though he still needs to make that decision), but rather which sport. Some reports say the Rockies are upset with Wilson about this possible return to football (Rockies official Marc Gustafson said team would be "disappointed" if it happened), while anonymous sources claim this is not true.

One way or another, Wilson needs to make a choice soon. Prolonging this decision only hurts his development in both sports. While he was off to a better start in June, Wilson has fallen back and is hitting .255 with a .735 OPS in 14 June games. Certainly better than his first two months, but not the greatest.

Visit Bucky's 5th Quarter for more on Wisconsin's reactions and thoughts on possibly picking up Russell Wilson.

Russell Wilson's Future Down To Which Sport, Not Which College, According To Report

Colorado Rockies second baseman Russell Wilson still hasn't made a choice on his future. While the question of his future destination has been on his college choice in weeks past, it seems that the real question now is whether he wants to go back to football or if he desires to stick with baseball.

According to the Green Bay Press Gazette, sources indicate that Wilson's decision is really between football or baseball at the moment. This would seemingly indicate that Wilson has chosen a school, likely Wisconsin, but that he is unsure of where his future career stands. In football, his production is unquestioned, but teams will likely knock him down a bit for his height, which is either six-foot or 5-foot-11.

The Gazette indicates that returning some of his bonus is a non-issue for Wilson and that the team actually expected him to return for a fourth year of school. However, Rockies' director of player development Marc Gustafson had previously said the club would be disappointed if Wilson returned to the gridiron.

Wilson has struggled for Colorado's Low-A Asheville Tourists this season, though June has been good to him. He's hitting .270 with an .805 OPS through 11 June games. However, his season line is .222 with a .691 OPS. On Thursday night, Wilson hit an RBI triple and stole consecutive bases, scoring on the second one after the catcher committed an error.

The clock is ticking with just a month and a half left until fall camps start.

Visit Bucky's 5th Quarter for more on Wisconsin's reactions and thoughts on possibly picking up Russell Wilson.

Will Russell Wilson Make A Decision On Auburn Or Wisconsin On Wednesday?

Is Russell Wilson's college journey about to end on Wednesday? According to Andy Baggot of Madison.com, it may happen:

A decision is expected as early as Wednesday, this after Wilson visited Madison last week and met with Badgers coaches and players over a two-day period.

The problem with this report is that it isn't substantiated with a source, even an unnamed one. We're just back to last week when premature reports of Wilson choosing the Wisconsin Badgers emerged. The Auburn Tigers are the only other team in the running, as far as we know, but things do appear to favor Wisconsin at this point.

However, as Bucky's 5th Quarter points out, Dave Heller of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has tweeted that, according to someone inside the Asheville Tourists, Wilson has not told the Rockies' minor league team that he has made a decision one way or the other.

Wilson would need to leave baseball before the start of August so he could attend August football camp. He would also need to return a portion of his $250,000 signing bonus if he left. He is hitting .265 with a .741 OPS through 10 June games, but overall he is hitting .220 with a .677 OPS. The Rockies would not look favorably on this return to college football

Visit Bucky's 5th Quarter for Wisconsin fans' reactions.

Russell Wilson's Visit To Wisconsin Included Small NCAA Rules Violation

With no decision coming just yet on Russell Wilson's college football team this fall, we're all left in the dark. However, Wilson's visit to Wisconsin does have a small bit of trouble attached to it.

As CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli explains, a Badgers player spoke openly about Wilson:

"Whenever you can bring someone in of his caliber it is going to add some competition at the quarterback spot," Toon told the reporter according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "And competition brings out the best in everybody and that’s great. Hopefully he comes here.

Fornelli mentions that this is a violation of NCAA rules, which prohibit the university on any level from discussing a potential player unless it is to acknowledge that the recruitment of said player. Toon, obviously unaware of this rule, directly mentioned how Wilson would impact the Badgers.

In the grand scheme of things, this matters little except for Toon and others to not speak openly about someone being recruited. Auburn, Wisconsin and the Rockies await Wilson's decision.

For more on Wilson's N.C. State career, join Backing The Pack. For more Wisconsin, join Bucky's 5th Quarter, and for more Auburn join Track Em Tigers.

Russell Wilson's Time Is Running Out On College Decision

Early reports of Rockies' infielder Russell Wilson choosing the Wisconsin Badgers as his fall destination for college football turned out to be premature, but, as Keith Jarrett of the Asheville Citizen-Times points out, he won't have many days free if he wants to visit other schools. There are off days during the South Atlantic League's All-Star Break and a few in July for him to visit other schools, but the two leading schools are Wisconsin and Auburn.

Wilson visited Auburn in May and spent some time with Wisconsin earlier this week. Both schools are in the running since they have open competitions for their quarterback positions. Auburn lost 2010 Heisman winner Cam Newton to the NFL and Wisconsin's Scott Tolzien graduated.

At this point, Auburn and Wisconsin are likely the only schools Wilson is deciding between, as Jarrett writes. By all accounts it is almost a slam dunk that Wilson will play college football, but he'd need to leave the Colorado Rockies' organization and the Asheville Tourists before Aug. 1, right around the time football camps starts. Wilson has struggled as a baseball player, barely hitting above the Mendoza line. Returning to college football would hurt his development on the baseball diamond.

Visit Bucky's 5th Quarter for Wisconsin fans' reactions.

Rockies' Russell Wilson May Have Chosen Wisconsin Football; Conflicting Reports Made

After a month of speculation and even a visit to Auburn, Colorado Rockies minor league infielder Russell Wilson will play college football this fall for the Wisconsin Badgers in the newly-constituted 12-team Big Ten Conference, according to NBC Sports' Keith Arnold. He has this one year remaining to play college football. 

Wilson was a two-sport athlete in baseball and football for the N.C. State Wolfpack, being drafted by the Rockies in teh fourth round of the 2010 MLB Draft. He played during the summer for the Rockies short-season Tri-City Dust Devils before returning to N.C. State for his redshirt junior year as the Wolfpack starting quarterback. Wilson was honored during Senior Day because it was believed that he was going to give up football to concentrate fully on baseball.

For a time that seemed true, but Wilson got off to a slow start and has yet to find any consistency. He is hitting .212/.367/.305 in 49 games for the Low-A Asheville Tourists so far in 2011. Wilson wanted to return to the Wolfpack, but he was not going to be handed the starting QB's job, which led him to ask for a transfer release.

And so he finally settled on Wisconsin, a school that was lacking in experienced quarterbacks. He will leave the Rockies by the end of July to start August camp with the Bagers and work in a new offense. His future in baseball will likely be up in the air.

UPDATE: And only minutes later, a new report surfaced that Wilson has not settled on Wisconsin yet. Stay tuned.

Follow this StoryStream for more on Russell Wilson's future.

Russell Wilson Would Need To Return Part Of Signing Bonus If He Returned To Football

On Tuesday, former N.C. State Wolfpack quarterback and current Colorado Rockies prospect Russell Wilson visited the Auburn football program, and his interest in playing football again has not pleased the Rockies. According to the Asheville Citizen-Times, Marc Gustafson, the Rockies' director of player development said:

"Would we be disappointed if he chose to play football? Yes, we would."

Gustafson also said that Wilson would need to return "a significant portion" of the $250,000 signing bonus he received after signing in 2010. Further, this would adversely affect Wilson's development, which has been a struggle so far, since he would leave at the start of August and miss the last month of the season.

While Gustafson called Wilson's return to college football "speculation" at this point, previous reports have placed Wilson resuming football as a near certainty. With his lack of performance so far in the batter's box, Wilson may possibly take his chances in the NFL or the CFL.

Russell Wilson Visiting Auburn, According To Report

Colorado Rockies infielder Russell Wilson is still trying to figure out where he will play college football this fall, but the Auburn football team is reportedly one of the places he is interested in. According to a report by ESPN's Joe Schad, Wilson is visiting Auburn this week:

A person close to Wilson said the quarterback arrived at Auburn on Monday night and would spend all Tuesday with coaches in an effort to get to know them and the offensive playbook and scheme used by offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.

The only other school that is known to have interest is Wisconsin, though at least a dozen places have contacted him. 

Wilson will be a redshirt senior this year, having already graduated from North Carolina State. After it was clear he would not be the starter, Wilson asked for a release from his scholarship. Under NCAA rules, Wilson can make a one-time transfer out of his conference (ACC) to another school by enrolling in a graduate school program not offered by NC State.

Wilson is hitting .216/.368/.310 in 38 games this season for the Low-A Asheville Tourists.

Rockies' Russell Wilson Looking At Wisconsin Football To Continue Collegiate Career, According To Report

Last week, it became known that Colorado Rockies second base prospect Russell Wilson received a release from his N.C. State football scholarship because he was not going to be the Wolfpack's starting quarterback in 2011. Wilson graduated and has one year of eligibility left because he took a redshirt, so under NCAA rules he is able to transfer and play immediately for a school outside of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

While early reports had SEC schools as possibilities, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via CBS Sports) has sources that indicate Wilson is looking at the Wisconsin Badgers. His competition has little game experience, but he would need to learn the playbook on the fly if he does indeed choose the school.

No matter where he winds up, Wilson will need to leave the Low-A Asheville Tourists by the end of July or early August to join football training camp. He is currently hitting .244/.398/.372 in 28 games.