Miami heat guard and former NCAA Basketball player Tyler Herro threw shade at the University of Wisconsin, where he was once committed to play.
Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro ripped the University of Wisconsin Wednesday night, suggesting that the Badgers’ system isn’t suitable for players with NBA aspirations.
Herro, who de-committed from the Badgers in 2017 to sign with the University of Kentucky, said in a tweet that if he had gone to Wisconsin, he’d “still be at Wisconsin.”
“The states top talent would love to play for Wisconsin but not in that system,” Herro said.
The former Kentucky star’s comments came in an exchange with former Badger Zak Showalter, who spoke out against third-year guard Kobe King’s surprise decision to leave the team.
“Making the best decision for himself,” Herro said in a reply that initiated the back-and-forth.
Read their whole conversation below.
https://twitter.com/raf_tyler/status/1222707957118525445
I’ll admit I was 100% wrong about you. You a killer.
— Zak Showalter (@ZShowbball333) January 30, 2020
Appreciate you, but I’d still be at Wisconsin.
— Tyler Herro (@raf_tyler) January 30, 2020
the states top talent would love to play for Wisconsin but not in that system. I think you can agree ?
— Tyler Herro (@raf_tyler) January 30, 2020
Herro, a Wisconsin native, averaged 14 points and 4.5 rebounds per game at Kentucky while shooting 35.5% from deep, according to ESPN. He was the No. 13 pick in the 2019 NBA draft.
Herro would have been a prized recruit for Wisconsin coach Greg Gard. His sharpshooting and microwave scoring ability, which helped propel Kentucky to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament, would have been a boost for the Badgers, who finished last season with a 23-11 record and were upset by Oregon in the first round.
But his recent comments could throw a wrench in Gard’s ability to bring in top-tier talent going forward.
Here’s what CBS Sports Insider Gary Parrish said about the matter on his “Eye on College Basketball” podcast:
"“That’s the type of thing — that Tyler Herro back-and-forth — that can really affect Wisconsin recruiting because that will be passed along to Wisconsin recruits by opposing staff … I don’t know if it will actually have a tangible impact, but it could. And I know that recruits will be made aware of that.”"
It’s no secret that Wisconsin has fallen behind other major programs when it comes to landing top recruits. Since the NBA instituted its one-and-done rule in 2006, the Badgers haven’t had a single player break for the NBA after just one season, according to 247Sports.
That’s not to say that Wisconsin hasn’t been great. The Badgers made the NCAA tournament in 19 consecutive seasons before failing to earn a spot in 2018. In 2015, they advanced all the way to the title game.
On Saturday, in their first matchup since King stepped away, they knocked off No. 14 Michigan State at home, snapping an eight-game losing streak against the Spartans. They are currently 13-9 and expected to make the NCAA Tournament, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
The Badgers have also developed their fair share of NBA talent, such as Phoenix Suns big man Frank Kaminsky, who enrolled as a four-star recruit and went on to capture consensus National Player of the Year honors before the Charlotte Hornets selected him with the ninth overall pick in 2015.
Other recent Wisconsin Badgers who made the NBA include Sam Dekker, Jon Leuer, Greg Stiemsma, Marcus Landry, Devin Harris and Michael Finley.
But since Gard took over from former coach Bo Ryan in 2015, that NBA pipeline has thinned.
It’s not for a lack of trying. In 2018, associate head coach Howard Moore, who stepped away from the team this season for personal reasons, told 247Sports the idea that Wisconsin didn’t want one-and-done athletes to join its ranks was “absurd.”
“It would be ridiculous on our part as coaches to not take a kid who is talented enough to be considered a good enough player to play one year of college and then go on to the NBA,” Moore said. “That whole stigma, lie, fabrication is absurd.”
“People try and talk about style of play when they recruit against us,” he added, according to 247Sports. “Our style of play is winning basketball games.”
For next year, Gard, Moore and the rest of the coaching staff struck out on landing five-star 2020 prospect Jalen Johnson, who grew up in Glendale, Wisconsin, but chose Duke.
The Badgers are, however, primed to bring in two four-star recruits and three three-star recruits, according to ESPN, including a pair of twins who grew up in Wisconsin.
But those recruits won’t be suiting up next to King, who was the Badgers’ second-leading scorer and told the Wisconsin State Journal he was frustrated with “the way we were talked to as a team.”
Nor will they be playing with Herro, who’s found early success in the NBA and, apparently, doesn’t regret his choice of school one bit.