There are always two sides to a story and people are waiting to see what's going to end up happening with the Wisconsin football team and standout cornerback Xavier Lucas. The first-year playmaker wants to enter the transfer portal, with Miami looking like a likely next stop.
However, Lucas called out the Badgers earlier this week, claiming that Wisconsin is essentially preventing him from leaving town. Rumors are flying around that Lucas was illegally recruited by other programs, which led to him changing his mind about playing for UW next season.
No one knows what's going on, but the bad news for Luke Fickell is that he's getting bashed left and right over how things are playing out. Yup, on social media, countless people are bashing the Wisconsin leader over not letting Lucas leave Madison.
The Xavier Lucas drama is leading to people ripping Wisconsin HC Luke Fickell
Is this fair to Fickell? Absolutely not. We don't want to speculate on what's happening, but with so many other Wisconsin players transferring this offseason, we're just going to assume that Fickell is just straight up telling Lucas that he can't go somewhere else? People think that's the case, letting him have it left and right:
Luke Fickell is literally holding players hostage to prevent them from entering the transfer portal.
— ethan (@ethan_farina_) December 27, 2024
Sad state of affairs from the little brother program down in Madison pic.twitter.com/FoCEddtjlI
Luke Fickell has lost his goddamned mind.
— Thor Nystrom (@thorku) December 28, 2024
And I’m only talking about swapping Phil Longo for Jeff Grimes. pic.twitter.com/J2J6uZV0oz
Luke Fickell train is off the Rails. Who would have thought out of Luke Fickell, Mel Tucker, and Brett Belima the best hire would be Brett at Illinois. Other than @TomFornelli of course. Remember Brett was MSU’s back up for Mel. lol. https://t.co/47V64XfQEr
— Nicholas Richardson (@Slicknickshady) December 27, 2024
Luke Fickell and Wisconsin are scumbags. Period. Full Stop. There is no extenuating circumstance exception in the Portal rules. They are just violating the rules and all of your attempts to legitimize their behavior based on reasons you invented are staining yourselves
— Vishnu Parasuraman (@vrp2003) December 27, 2024
Luke Fickell @CoachFick has become the Hans Gruber of college football.
— Locked On Canes (@LockedOnCanes) December 27, 2024
Let Xavier Lucas go! pic.twitter.com/ABvPVsHC1Z
Don’t see why anyone would want to play for @BadgerFootball after seeing them hold a player hostage. This will hurt them in recruiting. Luke Fickell is trying to win one battle at the cost of losing a war.
— Locked On Canes (@LockedOnCanes) December 27, 2024
It's no surprise that people from the Miami fanbase are chiming in here, as they know Lucas will be Coral Gables-bound if he's granted his release by the Badgers. This is something plenty of Badgers supporters don't want to see happen, though, as Lucas is one of the top young DBs in the Big Ten.
Lucas was one of the top signees for the 2024 class. He put the pen to paper with the Badgers as a four-star prospect and the No. 35 safety in the country. Lucas picked Wisconsin over additional offers from Miami, Illinois, Iowa, Alabama and many others. The hope is a resolution between the two sides will come soon. Until we know more, though, ripping Fickell just seems out of line.