Wisconsin gives encouraging injury update on Aleksas Bieliauskas ahead of Ohio St

Associate men's head basketball coach Joe Krabbenhoft met with the Wisconsin media after practice yesterday. When asked about Aleksas Bieliauskas, who was injured early in the win over Minnesota and never returned, Krabbenhoft gave encouraging news. The hope is that Bieliauskas will be ready to go and that he's close. However, Krabbenhoft is confident in true freshman Will Garlock.

There's a few interesting notes about this update but first, here is exactly what he said in the interview:

Will Garlock would get the start if Aleksas Bieliauskas is unable to play against Ohio State

Related: Minnesota coach’s quote on Braeden Carrington comes off as sour grapes

The first thing of note in this update is that Bieliauskas' injury is not as bad as it may have appeared. When Bieliauskas went down against Minnesota, not only did he never return to the game, but when he came to the bench, he was wearing a boot on his foot.

That could have simply been a precaution, and the trainers were waiting to do imaging on the foot, but the optics looked bad. So that is good news, that even if he misses Ohio State, he is close enough to return soon.

The second note is that Krabbenhoft bypasses transfer Austin Rapp when he names who is behind Bieliauskas. He goes straight to Garlock. This is interesting for two reasons. The first is that Rapp was replaced as a starter early in the season by Bieliauskas. So you'd think Rapp would then become second on the depth chart. Secondly, Garlock didn't come in for the injured Bieliauskas; Rapp did. This essentially confirms that Rapp is second on the depth chart.

This either means that Rapp is still in the dog house, or Rapp's entire role is coming off the bench, or Ohio State presents a specific opportunity that Garlock would help more than Rapp. Or it could be a mix of any of those three. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out later today when the Badgers take on Ohio State.