Why Maty Wilke left Wisconsin and how the Utah recruit navigated the NCAA transfer portal

MADISON – Why not shoot for the stars.

That’s how Maty Wilke approached her second experience through the recruiting process. The Beaver Dam native who entered the NCAA transfer portal after two seasons with the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball program has played the game as long as she can remember and has watched the NCAA Tournament and Final Four for years.

She dreamed of being a part of it.

“I never had a vision of where I wanted it to be at," said the 5-foot-10 guard, who recently committed to Utah, "but I knew I wanted to play for a national championship and so this time around to have a program like Utah that checks all my boxes and to have that opportunity to chase my dreams that was a big reason why I chose that place.”

Tuesday, Wilke announced her commitment to the Utes, a program that is coming off its second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, first Sweet 16 appearance in 17 years and first Pac-12 regular-season championship. She will have three years of eligibility remaining and will be able to play this upcoming season.

She spoke to the Journal Sentinel about her trip through the NCAA’s transfer portal, how she envisions fitting in with her new team and her departure from UW.

“The transfer portal is no joke,” she said. “I don’t how people do this multiple times, but obviously I’m grateful to have this opportunity. It was a lot, but in a good way.”

Wilke has a lot of respect for UW, but 'it was just not the best fit'

Wilke wasn’t a typical transfer candidate. She was a vital part of the Badgers' best Big Ten finish in 12 years, ranking third on UW in scoring (11.8 ppg), fourth in assists (2.2 apg) and tying for fifth in rebounding (3.9 rpg).

In the regular-season finale, she played a season-high 39 minutes. No freshman in the Big Ten averaged more minutes per contest (31.9).

So why leave?

“I think for me it was just not the best fit for me,” she said. “I have a lot respect for the program and this university. Obviously, it’s my home, so it wasn’t an easy decision. But like my mom told me, ‘You can’t force a shoe to fit your foot. You can try to stuff in socks to make it fit, but if it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t fit.’”

Wilke said she enjoyed her two years with the program and will miss the relationships she built.

“I don’t think there has to be something really bad that happened,” she said. “Obviously that happens some places, but I think like I said before, if it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t fit and it’s not anything against me and it’s not against them.”

Connections Wilke made in high school were key in second recruitment

Wilke committed to Wisconsin when Jonathan Tsipis was the head coach. He was fired after the 2020-21 season and was succeeded by Marisa Moseley.

The second time through the recruiting process Wilke focused on programs and coaches she had strong relationships with when she was recruited in high school.

Earlier this month she narrowed her list of choices to Marquette, Michigan, Minnesota, Stanford and Utah. Each of those schools recruited her hard when she was at Beaver Dam High School. Each of those programs, except Minnesota, has the same head coach in place.

“(With the) transfer portal, there isn’t a lot of time to make that decision, so I wanted to go to a place where I knew the head coach and I knew what our relationship was,” Wilke said. “That was a big part of me deciding to go there.”

The entire recruiting process took less than three weeks and it was an overwhelming experience at times. The first day her name was in the portal, she was overloaded with emails, calls and texts from schools trying to gauge her interest. It was similar to what she experienced in high school except that experience was spread over years rather than weeks.

After trimming her list, she visited Marquette and Minnesota in addition to Utah. She paid a visit to the Utes' Salt Lake City campus last weekend.

“It was really, really crazy, which I’m grateful to have these opportunities to go play. But also a second time around I knew what I wanted and what I was looking for," she said. "Once I settled down and got a hold of my life, in a sense, it helped me narrow down my list pretty fast because I knew exactly what I wanted and what I didn’t want."

Utah was one of the best offensive teams in the nation last season

In addition to playing for Lynne Roberts, a coach with whom she had already established a relationship, and the chance to join a program is expected to be a Final Four contender next season, Wilke already had connections with rising juniors Gianna Kneepkens and Jenna Johnson from their days on the club circuit.

Those two along with All-American forward Alissa Pili fueled an offense that ranked fourth in the nation in scoring (82.8 ppg) and field goal percentage (.484). The team, which had no seniors, went 27-5 last season. Its top players are expected to return.

Wilke is excited about the challenge.

“I’ll be able to have the ball in my hands a lot more, just kind playing, making reads off each other, playing fast," she said. “It’s like guards and post. It’s not a (point guard, shooting guard, small forward system). I like that. I like playing fast. I live moving the ball, playing off each other. I think that style of play fits who I am and who I want to be in college and how I envision myself playing in college, too.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Maty Wilke talks about her Utah commitment, departure from Wisconsin