WISCO PLAYBOOK

Author: trao6

  • Dhruv Deshpande’s journey to a first national tournament


    “Cricket was where I got serious. I hated losing,” Deshapande said as he shared the story of his cricketing life.

    Written by: Tejas Rao

    Dhruv Deshpande, a sophomore at UW-Madison studying Computer Science and Economics, decided to not let go of his childhood talent and dream after coming to university. “I always wanted to play cricket, even if it meant semi-professionally, and that’s what led me to the BCC,” he said.  

    The Badger Cricket Club (BCC), founded in 2023, was the main spot for cricketing enthusiasts in UW-Madison to come show off their talent. It was also the only ticket to making an official university team that goes out and plays tournaments. Deshpande did not hesitate to find out the cricketing opportunities he had and joined the club just weeks after reaching Madison. 

    Even though he missed out on the first round of try-outs to make the team in the first semester at Madison, his performance in the weekly indoor tennis ball sessions – that were open to anyone – caught the eye of the seniors in the main team. “Most people came to play for fun, but Dhruv was clearly more invested and looked good out on the floor. So we decided to add him to our main squad,” BCC president Ayush Mehta said. 

    By his second semester as a freshman, he was playing with the official leather ball that cricket is played with professionally and in just a month he had proved his worth to be in the travelling squad to his first-ever rivalry tournament — a tri-series matchup between the BCC and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities cricket club. 

    Over the three matches in his first-ever regional tournament, he took a total of 5 wickets in 9 overs bowled, and showed that putting him on the field as a bowler would guarantee the team at least a wicket per game. “He is definitely an asset and I’m sure we made the right decision adding him to our squad,” Mehta said post-tournament.   

    “I was definitely excited to make that starting eleven, but I know from my end that it took months of work to show my worth to a team of seniors and juniors that have been here for years,” Deshpande admitted. 

    As a child, he was always yearning to play. Unless the sky got dark or school work was hindering him, you’d always find him out in the field practicing. “He was almost never to be seen if it was a weekend or holiday,” his father, Guru Deshpande, exclaimed. “Only came in for meals or if cricket matches were playing on the T.V.” 

    In his schooling years, the highest level he achieved was playing at an intra state-level called ‘zonals’, representing his district throughout middle school. “Playing zonals was some of the best days playing cricket and the aim was always to make it to a state level.” When asked about his mindset, even at a young age, he said, “I of course played other sports but it didn’t matter that much to me if I lost. Cricket was where I got serious. I hated losing.” 

    Fast forward just 3 years and he made his dream a reality, ready to come out onto the field to face the other cricket clubs of mid-west universities. The Collegiate Cricket League’s (CCL) Regionals in October of this year was where he got his first taste of playing for a big trophy and a qualification to the CCL nationals. 

    Although the Badger Cricket Club lost their first match of the tournament, they bounced back with two wins to make the semi-finals against the University of Michigan. As they hit boundaries after boundaries, the Badgers needed to break their momentum by getting crucial wickets and getting their good batsmen out. Deshpande was having a decent tournament performance so far, getting wickets in previous matches consistently, but he found his moment to shine in this match. 

    As he stepped up to bowl his first over of the match, he got two wickets in the same over, getting the high-rated Michigan batsmen out early into the game. No doubt a crucial cog in the entire BCC machine, he went on to bowl extremely well in the finals against Ohio State and kept their batsmen at bay. 

    He had done it. “Losing the first match, we never thought we would win the regionals,” Deshpande said.

    Winning the regional championship for his club and his university and getting that golden qualification ticket to the CCL Nationals coming up in March of 2026. “I never felt anything like it so I didn’t really know how to react but I knew that this was something I wanted to keep doing.” 

    The journey to a national-level tournament was completed and a new one began in that instant — winning his first-ever national trophy was the ultimate prize now. “Winning the regionals felt good since this team hasn’t won in a couple years, but I wasn’t fully satisfied with it. The nationals is something I feel would complete the feeling of winning.”

  • She’s in the huddle: Madison West’s first-ever female coach

    Written by: Rachel Cohen

    Grace Cannizzo grew up loving sports. She noticed during fifth grade that every recess the boys would play soccer so one day, she told one of them she wanted to join. 

    He invited her in and she eventually became the only girl playing in a group of 40 boys. It wasn’t met with agreement from everyone and one of the boys would lash out, pushing her around and throwing punches at her. 

    But instead of letting that be her discouragement, she went on to invite more and more girls to come play until there were at least 15 girls who joined the soccer games played during recess. That same boy was so mad and stopped throwing punches because he was outnumbered. 

    Cannizzo laughed while telling this story because of how ridiculous it was that a boy would throw punches, but it taught Cannizzo a lesson early on. She learned she could hang with the boys and had the skills and knowledge to be a part of the games, the locker rooms and the broadcast booth just as much as any of the boys did. 

    Not only is Cannizzo a 20-year-old journalism student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but she is now also an assistant wide receiver coach for a high school football team. 

    At a time when women are continuing to break barriers in sports, Cannizzo is leading that charge as the only female football coach for Madison West High School. 

    “I’ve been watching football my whole life,” Cannizzo said. “I’ve been analyzing sports my whole life. I know I’m just as qualified as anyone else, even if they know more than me, I’m still qualified for the positions I have.”

    Growing up in New Jersey, Cannizzo was immersed in sports through her family’s love for Notre Dame football. She loved the environment, tradition, and bond sports brought. 

    “There isn’t a time in my childhood I don’t remember sports being a big thing in my family, specifically with my dad,” Cannizzo said. “He just kind of raised me that way.”

    That love of sports being in her life continued with her to college and ultimately led to her reaching out to the Madison West football staff. 

    “I’ve just been so into football my whole life,” Cannizzo said. “I’m sometimes that person that’s picking apart things. And I was like, you know, I feel like I’d actually enjoy this beyond just yelling at my television.” 

    She sent an email and went through an interview process with the Madison West coaches. They all clicked and by the end of winter, Cannizzo was added to the coaches email list. 

    Michael Vorlander, an offensive line assistant coach at Madison West said, “it’s unusual to see a woman on a football coaching staff, especially at the high school level.”

    He initially questioned how the 18-year-olds on the team would respond to having a female coach and how Cannizzo would coach considering she had never played football.  

    But, after meeting Cannizzo, all of his questions and worries went away. 

    “When you meet Grace, you realize that she knows ball,” Vorlander said. “She knows ball very well. She’s been watching it from a very young age, and she understands it more than a lot of these kids.”

    Besides learning all their names in the first week and blowing Vorlander “out of the water,” Cannizzo has developed a different kind of relationship with the players. 

    While they can jokingly call her “unc” (a slang term for being old) because she’s only a few years older than them, she also provides a different outlook on things.

    “I think that adds more of a relatability factor,” she said. “I’m pretty good at bringing situations down, de-escalating and also, yeah, with age, I think I’ve been able to help with things I can relate to more, even outside of coaching.”

    She’s also made a difference in the coaches. Not only has she changed their perspectives of women coaching, she’s also brought a new light to the team. While some coaches can be headstrong, Grace is more welcoming and friendly. 

    “She comes out there with full steam, with confidence, and you would have never second guessed that this girl has never coached a day in her life before,” Vorlander said. “We love having Grace around. She’s a blast. She lights up the room.”

    The running back coach Julius Starlin agreed that Grace brings a fresh outlook to the team. 

    “It’s just kind of really enlightening,” Starlin said. “You know, honestly, having a different perspective…she’s found a purpose and she’s found things that she can do to learn and benefit the team.”

    Whenever there’s a doubt, Cannizzo always comes back to her self motto: “If you know ball, you know ball.” 

    That is also something she tells her younger self, her current self and young girls who want to break into the sports world. 

    “Stop doubting yourself,” Cannizzo said. “I’m a big believer in following your heart as opposed to your brain. This is one where I think it’s very applicable, do what you want to do, and things will fall in place.”

  • Sean West’s rise seems to be more steadfast than improbable

    West, who grew up an avid Badgers fan is now playing – and thriving – on his childhood team.

    Written by: Jacob Szczap

    With his back facing the student section and the Wisconsin Badgers in a 4th-and-19 situation in the midst of a blowout, Sean West fielded a high snap standing on his own two-yard line. He gathered the football, lifted it to punt it and then did the unthinkable. With an open field to his right, 33 yards from his feet to the first-down marker, and an entire stadium expecting a punt, West took off running.

    West made the call to run himself, and he had no idea how much yardage he had to gain, figuring it was a 4th-and-5. But as he took off, he had almost the entire field fooled, and sprinted unbothered for 25 yards. 

    Ohio State safe-man Leroy Roker III, the one player who didn’t take West’s bait, closed in on him at the 27 yard-line, but West was able to shake off the tackle, made another Ohio State player miss, and stumbled his way to a first down. 

    The uncalled fake punt was the Badgers’ only positive moment of the game, making it the most memorable and is indicative of West’s role in Wisconsin’s season as a whole — a bright spot shining through a year that had its fair share of struggles.

    Fast forward a couple months, the Badgers finished the season 4-8, their worst mark in 35 years. There were low points, like losing to Maryland at home, and then getting bludgeoned to two consecutive shutouts by Iowa and Ohio State. But players like West — young, successful and hungry, show that there is reason to believe that Wisconsin’s fortunes can turn around. 

    West, who comes from in-state Mequon, brings the passion of a kid that spent a childhood dreaming of playing for the Badgers. Head coach Luke Fickell described him as a player, “that is dying to be here.” 

    He was raised a Badgers fan, and regularly attended games with his family at Camp Randall throughout his childhood. “I always wanted to go to Madison, it was my number one dream school,” West told the Cardinal. “I had pictures of Wisconsin football in my room as a kid.” 

    Throughout his youth, he had always been a good athlete, excelling in soccer, hockey, and lacrosse, in addition to football. In middle school football, he played a variety of positions, including quarterback, defensive end and linebacker, but he made the most impact with his leg. 

    “From playing soccer when I was a kid, I knew I had a decent leg,” West recalled. “So I kind of just went and tried out for kicker.” 

    He, and others, soon discovered his leg was more than decent. 

    “Nobody would expect a middle school kid to be able to kick the ball that far,” Drake Zortman, West’s head football coach at Homestead High School, told the Cardinal. “He would kick off, and then the (opposing) team would have to turn around and run backwards to get it.”

    West progressed through the youth ranks, and by his sophomore year, he was named Homestead’s starting kicker and punter, where he initially struggled. 

    In his junior season, however, things changed. West went four-for-four on field goals, and was quickly making a name for himself in the state’s prep kicking circles. 

    “He did nothing but get better,” Zortman said. 

    Realizing his potential, West devoted the summer following his junior year to perfecting the craft of kicking. He started traveling throughout the country to participate in kicking and punting camps, where he developed skills and began gaining notice from college recruiters. 

    Still, West operated largely from under the radar. Heading into his senior season, he had received interest only from Division II and III schools. By the end of his season, it looked like if West wanted to play high-level college football, it would have to be over 15 hours from home, as Wyoming was the only Division I school to offer interest. 

    But two nights before he was set to fly out to Laramie for a visit, Wisconsin special teams analyst Spencer Rymiszewski gave West a follow on Twitter and invited him to Camp Randall for a game visit that weekend. Although he had had the Wyoming trip planned for weeks, West exuberantly accepted Rymiszewski’s invitation. 

    “I was kind of freaking out,” West said. 

    In a drastic change of events, West was suddenly being recruited by his childhood team. But after the visit, months went by without West hearing any more word from Madison. He eventually contacted Wisconsin punter Gavin Lahm, who told West that Rymiszewski had accepted a position at Kent State. From there, West got back in touch with Wisconsin. He went on an unofficial visit in April 2023, and days later, when offered by assistant special teams coordinator Eric Raisbeck, West committed on the spot. 

    As the reality that West had fulfilled a childhood dream set in, West also immediately realized that he would have to double down on the same principles that brought him to Wisconsin — hard work and a commitment to excellence. 

    West spent his freshman season in Madison buried in Wisconsin’s special teams depth chart, and struggled with the adaptation to a smaller role on a team. 

    “When you come to college as an athlete, you have dreams of beating people out and playing your first year,” West said. “But last year, I didn’t have a great year, punting wise.”

    While he didn’t see the playing field, being a part of a program he grew up idealizing lit a match to a deep desire for success that was already fueled. 

    “I remember just going down the hallways, (seeing), the legends that have played here, like JJ Watt, all those guys,” West said. “I was always so jealous of them, and wanted to be like them.” 

    Heading into this season, his redshirt freshman year, West didn’t expect to play, with emphasis on continuing to improve physically and mentally. But he had a great fall camp, found consistency in his punting and caught the eyes of the coaching staff. 

    His progress continued throughout the season, and with the Badgers reeling in mid-October, West was told he was going to receive some in-game action. His first appearance came in the aforementioned Ohio State game. 

    “I was shaking quite a bit,” West said. “Being on the field for the first time didn’t feel real at all.” 

    After his first punt though, he settled in nicely, and found enough confidence to pull off the fake punt, a play most players wouldn’t dare execute on their own. West became a beacon of hope for Wisconsin fans, and became a crucial part in the rest of Wisconsin’s season. 

    He took three punts in Wisconsin’s next game against Oregon, and a week later at home vs then No. 21 Washington, etched his name further into the college football zeitgeist. 

    Trailing 10-3 in the third quarter, West completed his second fake punt in his first three games as a Badger. The playcall was planned this time, but West almost missed the call. 

    The Badgers thought they could exploit Washington’s punt coverage, and called a play that featured West pulling back on the punt and passing the ball. But West wasn’t sure if he heard the playcall correctly, and had to yell out to Aaron Witt to double-check. At the last moment, Witt confirmed the fake.  

    West then found tight end Jackson Acker wide open in the middle of the field for a 24-yard first down completion. The play brought an energy to Camp Randall that would eventually carry Wisconsin to its first Big Ten victory of the year, and the first ranked win of the Fickell era. 

    On a snowy afternoon where running the ball took priority, West, with his 24 passing yards finished the game as Wisconsin’s leading passer, drawing national attention. 

    Though West introduced himself with the stunning dash against Ohio State, and told the college football world he was sticking around with his play against Washington, it has been more than just his knack trickery that propelled him to becoming Wisconsin’s first punting option. 

    In his six games, West has been good for 47.7 yards per punt, 11th best in college football. He had 14 punts that travelled 50 or more yards. 

    “Sean has just shown us over and over again on a consistent basis that he’s got a really, really good leg,” Fickell said.

    With fellow punter Atticus Bertrams announcing he has entered the transfer portal, West appears to be heading into next season as Wisconsin’s starting punter. It marks a continuation of the upward trajectory West has been on since his days as an athletic middle-schooler known for his leg. 

    West remembers looking out at the Camp Randall field a few years ago, telling his sisters how badly he wanted to play on it. Now, he’s in the position he envied, and while ecstatic about it, he’s not close to being satisfied.

    “I want to be considered one of the greats, one of the best to come out of Badger football,” West said.

    With his rapid journey from fan to foundational player, West’s story may evoke a sort of underdog tale. But his sheet talent, paired with unwavering commitment to his craft, and the place he grew up dreaming of, point to his rise being more steadfast than improbable.