May 11, 2012; Renton, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) passes during a minicamp scrimmage at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-US PRESSWIRE

Going into this weekend’s rookie minicamp, there was some question whether Russell Wilson would really be in the QB mix for Seattle this year. Some saw him as a developmental QB only, while others thought, given his poise and experience, there was a chance he might compete for the back-up job. Now there’s no question about where Wilson stands. He’s in the mix – and not just for the #2 spot.

“He showed us enough,” Pete Carroll told the press after watching Wilson work with his fellow rookies. “He’s in the competition.”

Not surprisingly, Carroll was most impressed by Wilson’s hard work. “He did an excellent job of demonstrating that he prepared for this,” the coach raved.

Getting prepared for a new job in a short period of time is nothing new to Wilson. Before last season in Wisconsin, the transfer had to quickly gain command of a whole new offense with completely different terminology from the West Coast system he played in at NC State.

Now Wilson is back in the West Coast and already looking comfortable. Watch out Matt Flynn and Tarvaris Jackson.

Pete Carroll On Russell Wilson’s Starting Chances: “He’s in the Competition.” - Badger of Honor - Badger of Honor - A Wisconsin Badgers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

As you would expect, the Badgers figured prominently in the night’s festivities. Barry Alvarez, Andy North, Pat Richter and Ron Dayne all walked the red carpet (Dayne more waddled), and a couple of Badgers later won awards. Well actually only one current Badger won an award. Montee Ball was honored as college player of the year. Sam Dekker won boys high school basketball player of the year but of course he’s not a Badger quite yet.

The big school was shut out when it came to college coach and team of the year. Those honors went, justifiably, to Lance Leipold and his UW-Whitewater football team. Overall player of the year was given to Aaron Rodgers who also received pro athlete of the year. The game of the year award was given to Super Bowl XLV.

Cynicism about awards shows aside, I’m sure everyone had a good time and I know it was cool for the fans to see some of their sports heroes including Ryan Braun and Aaron Rodgers. Oh and there were hot girlfriends. Did I mention?

Current, Future Badgers Honored at Inaugural Wisconsin Sports Awards - Badger of Honor - Badger of Honor - A Wisconsin Badgers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

Nov. 5, 2011; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Jarrod Uthoff (center) looks to pass as the Badgers play the Wisconsin Stevens Point at the Kohl Center. The Badgers defeated Stevens Point 80-54. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-US PRESSWIRE

The media helped Jarrod Uthoff shame Bo Ryan into easing his transfer restrictions, allowing the former Iowa Mr. Basketball to take his talents to any team outside the Big Ten. Now Uthoff must find a team that wants his talents. That process will, at some point this week, lead him to the campus of Marquette University.

Uthoff has already reportedly visited Creighton and Iowa State, and at some point he will visit Florida. Like Iowa State and Florida, Marquette was originally on the list of teams Uthoff was forbidden to consider as a transfer destination. Uthoff says he still has Iowa on his list too though he’s not allowed to visit there or talk to the coaching staff, Iowa being a Big Ten school.

As you recall, Iowa native Uthoff spent last year as a redshirt freshman for Wisconsin, but at some point decided he didn’t like the Badgers’ team-oriented approach and asked for a transfer. Bo Ryan did what any coach would do in attempting to prevent Uthoff from transferring to conference rivals, in-state rivals and any other schools expected to be on the team’s schedule over the next few years, including teams the Badgers might see in the ACC/Big Ten challenge. But for some reason the media objected to this and held Bo’s feet to the fire.

Admittedly, Bo did a bad job dealing with that media heat, especially during his stumbling interview on Mike & Mike. In the end Wisconsin was forced to eliminate all but Big Ten schools from the transfer restriction list. So, Uthoff whined, the media came to his defense because apparently they don’t like the prickly Ryan, and now Uthoff can pick his spot as long as it’s not in our conference.

Of course none of this will really matter if Uthoff turns out to be a dog of a player. It could turn out that the Badgers got lucky losing this guy, who is clearly not big on the team-first approach that has made Wisconsin a perennial Big Ten contender. We’ll see.

Jarrod Uthoff Will Visit Marquette, Florida - Badger of Honor - Badger of Honor - A Wisconsin Badgers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.