Wisconsin Badgers point guard Chucky Hepburn joins former Green Bay Packers fullback John Kuhn on his radio show “Nine 2 Noon” every Friday during the season. Yesterday, Hepburn joined the show, which is also hosted by former Badgers basketball player Brian Butch, prior to Wisconsin’s victory over Western Michigan. In his interview, Hepburn shared his Christmas celebration with his family and how he and the team tried to avoid coming out slow after a two-week layoff. He also discussed the role NIL deals play in college basketball recruiting and his excitement about recent events surrounding the Badgers football team.
How NIL Deals Help Spread Talent Around the Country
After discussing the holidays and the cold weather, Chucky Hepburn was asked his opinion on how NIL deals have helped parody in college basketball. That is, instead of the most talented players going to just a handful of schools, they are spreading out to other colleges and universities around the country due to NIL deals.
Hepburn’s opinion is as follows:
“I definitely don’t think the NIL game is as big as it is in football, but it definitely has a big majority in decision making for basketball as well.
Related: Wisconsin Badgers Point Guard Chucky Hepburn Discusses Leap from Freshman to Sophomore Year
As my colleague Rudy L.B. covered here, the Christmas Day viewership numbers between the NFL and NBA clearly show which sport is more popular in America. Football is, by far, more popular than basketball. It stands to reason that NIL would be a bigger player in college football than in college basketball. However, it was interesting to hear Hepburn open up about how it also has affected basketball recruitment.
Excitement Surrounding Wisconsin Badgers Football
The next topic of discussion in the “Nine 2 Noon” interview with Chucky Hepburn was the excitement surrounding Luke Fickell and all the commitments he has garnered in his first few weeks as the Badgers head coach. First, though, Hepburn was asked about the Badgers victory in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl Game.
Question: Knowing what the football program and some of your friends on that team, I am sure, went through this year, how happy were you with how they finished their season?
Hepburn replied:
“Absolutely. I was so happy to see everyone celebrating, especially as a Badger alone, I’m just happy to see our team win. I’m happy for Coach Fickell to get his first win as head coach and I think it’s going to be a great season for them next year.
On what it is like sharing the title “Wisconsin Badgers athlete” with the football team
“It still shocks my mind that I’m still in college because, you know, time goes so fast. I have to stop and slow myself down tell myself, ‘You’re still in college’ because I’m sitting here among all of these great college athletes. You know, like Braelon Allen. It’s just crazy to me watching people that I hang out with do big time things on the field, on television.”
The full interview with Chucky Hepburn and the whole “Nine 2 Noon” Friday show can be found in the graphic above, or by visiting this website.
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