Freshman George Marshall will Redshirt

MADISON, Wis. — Freshman guard George Marshall announced on Wednesday his intention to redshirt the 2011-12 season for the Wisconsin men’s basketball team.

“I just looked at this season and came to the conclusion that a fifth year in this program will be more    beneficial than what is potentially a season with limited minutes,” George said prior to Wisconsin’s game  vs. Colgate. “I asked myself if it was worth playing this season, when I could possibly be playing a lot of  minutes as a fifth-year senior.”

“This is a great opportunity for George to have a one-year internship under arguably the best point  guard in the country,” associate head coach Greg Gard said Wednesday. “He can learn from that and at the same time know that he’ll be better physically and fundamentally as a player at 22 or 23 years old than he is as at 19. That extra year at the back end of his career can really turn into something special.”

A native of Chicago, Ill., Marshall is one of five freshmen on the Badgers’ roster. He will continue to practice with his teammates this season and will play as a redshirt freshman for the Badgers in 2012-13.

“I’ve talked to some of the assistant coaches and Ryan Evans about the decision,” Marshall added. “Ryan definitely suggested it and he said he’s really happy he redshirted and it helped him a lot. I’m confident that I could compete for minutes this season, but this just gives me another year to prove it.”

“He can definitely play at this level,” Gard said. “The experience that he’s getting going against Jordan Taylor every day in practice – and those are some battles – will be worth as much game experience as he would get this season. He has to use that to his advantage and he understands that.  The unsure amount of minutes he would have played this season are being invested and put into the bank, so to speak, and they’re gaining interest. He’ll take those out in his fifth year knowing that he’ll have an opportunity to play a lot of minutes as a senior.”

The No. 14-ranked Badgers take on Colgate Wednesday night at 7 p.m. (CT) at the Kohl Center. The game will be carried live on ESPN3.com.