One of the biggest mysteries surrounding the Wisconsin football team over the past week has been the status of standout cornerback Xavier Lucas. Plenty of eyebrows were raised when he announced that he was going to be one and done with the Badgers.
Yup, Lucas let everyone know that he was planning to enter the transfer portal. However, reports came out stating that Wisconsin had yet to submit the paperwork for things to be made official. Lucas then posted on social media that Wisconsin is essentially preventing him from doing so, which now has even more people talking:
I still intend to transfer, but at the moment Wisconsin is refusing to release me into the transfer portal. I’ve met all NCAA requirements of the transfer portal process. I’ve yet to be put into the transfer portal by Wisconsin which is impeding my ability to speak with schools.
— Xavier Lucas (@XavierL_25) December 27, 2024
Xavier Lucas called out Wisconsin for not letting him enter the transfer portal
Lucas pretty much slammed Luke Fickell and his staff for not releasing him, which is adding plenty of drama in Madison. It's been an up-and-down offseason for Fickell, especially with so many of his guys deciding to leave campus - however, plenty of additions are on the way via the portal too.
With Lucas, he's considered one of the top young defensive backs in the Big Ten, which is why losing him is going to be a big-time blow for Fickell and his defense. With that said, something is clearly going on to prevent the university from signing off on things.
We don't want to speculate too much, but rumors have been flying around that a program - which we won't name in this article - illegally recruited and contacted Lucas before he announced his intentions to transfer.
Tampering? Yup, that looks to be the case here and it's no coincidence that Fickell blasted coaches from other schools for trying to recruit his players. It's one thing to get in touch with a kid when he's in the portal, but it's a slap in the face when staff members are doing so when a kid has no plans to switch programs. Soon enough, we should know more on what's going down with Lucas, but this is a bit of a mess for Wisconsin.