Wisconsin will go on the road to College Park, MD this weekend for Saturday’s game against #2 Maryland, as the Badgers will hope to hand the Terrapins their first ever Big Ten loss at the Xfinity Center.
One Badger, however, will be going home: Freshman forward Charlie Thomas.
Thomas played at River Hills High School, where he is the all-time leader in points, rebounds, and blocked shots. The 6’8″, 250-pound forward said he will have plenty of friends and family coming to the game, in which he is very excited about.
“You know I got a little crew coming through,” Thomas disclosed, chuckling.
Thomas has only been to his home in Highland, MD for a day and a half for Christmas since coming to Madison this academic year. But this time, he will be with his team looking for their seventh straight win.
“Now we get to go back for a good purpose,” Thomas told me. “[We’re] trying to get that dub – going back home.”
Last time Wisconsin and Maryland faced off, Melo Trimble won on a buzzer-beating three-pointer, 63-60. Despite only shooting 39%, the Badgers were very close to pulling the upset. But, Trimble was too much down the stretch, shooting 9-17 for the field for 21 points. Thomas appeared in 7 minutes, shooting 0-2 with two fouls.
“I think we’re going to go in with the same mentality we went with last time,” Thomas explained. “We need to go in there like we’re going to beat them. Nothing’s changed.”
The Badgers, undoubtedly, are a much better team than they were during that January 9 matchup. The last game they lost was only three days later to Northwestern on January 12.
“We’re progressing every day; we’re always getting better constantly,” Thomas believes. “Game-by-game we’re always getting better at one thing, and just being comfortable with the flow of things ever since we put the swing back in.”
Thomas did not seem distracted by this homecoming, just excited. He told me that Maryland had interest in him, but they never offered him nor did he visit the school.
“I think people are aware that I’m from Maryland, and Diamond [Stone]’s from here and went over there,” Thomas explained.
None of that really matters to Thomas, who has no hard feelings for Maryland.
“I don’t think it’s that big of a deal because they [Maryland] didn’t offer,” Thomas admitted. “There’s no hard feelings at all; we’re just trying to go back and get a dub.”
The Badgers take on Maryland on Saturday at 5:30 PM CT on ESPN.