Prized Wisconsin Freshman Basketball Player Dealing With Multiple Law Enforcement Issues

Wisconsin basketball player Gus Yalden's time in Madison is off to a very rough start.

It was announced at the start of November the former four star recruit and prize of the 2023 Badgers class would be taking a leave of absence from the team. As soon as the news broke, fans started speculating on what could be happening given the fact he wasn't hurt.

"We are in full support of Gus and will always be here for him and his family. Gus is part of the Wisconsin basketball family and even though he won't be on the court with us right now, we'll always do everything we can to help him. We look forward to his return," head coach Greg Gard said at the time.

He's now back at practice, and fans now know why he was gone. Yalden has had some legal issues.

Gus Yalden received multiple citations early in his time at Wisconsin.

Yalden received an underage drinking ticket at Camp Randall during the season opener for the football team, and later pleaded no contest, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. The citation was eventually dropped down to unlawful possession of alcohol on campus. The talented young college player was also warned about having a fake ID. The talented freshman pledged "to be better moving forward," according to the same report.

However, that wasn't his only issue. Police later cited Yalden for possession of marijuana while at his residence hall near the end of October. He has a non-mandatory appearance on the violation on January 17th, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

Yalden's legal issues weren't serious enough to trigger an automatic suspension during an investigation, but it was enough for a leave of absence, which has since ended, to be triggered.

Gus Yalden off to a tough start with the Wisconsin Badgers. (Photo by John Jones/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Should fans be worried?

It would be easy to crush Gus Yalden for somehow managing to earn multiple citations within his first couple months on campus. Check out some Wisconsin forums, and you'll see plenty of knee-jerk reactions.

As OutKick readers know, I graduated from Wisconsin, and closely follow the Badgers. I'm pumped for the game against Tennessee. As a Wisconsin grad, I can also tell you getting an underage ticket or any kind of alcohol citation takes A LOT. From personal experience, cops almost always just tell you to dump your drink, stop being an idiot and move along (sorry, mom), and then do nothing. The campus police department is open about the fact it has no interest in dealing with underage drinking unless it's forced to. Cops openly say this, and I've experienced it firsthand.

So, I'd love to know some more details about what Gus Yalden was doing in order to draw attention to get an underage ticket.

Having said that, I'm not going to crush a kid for drinking underage and having some weed on him. Do I think it's smart? No. Do I think he's probably as focused as he needs to be? Absolutely not. It's foolish and childish behavior, and Gus Yalden had to step away from the team because of it.

People make dumb decisions in college. The fact there were two mistakes so early is definitely a bit of a red flag, and the margin for error should be gone. However, I'm not going to call for his life to be ruined for having a very rocky start in Madison, and it's important it seems like he's taking responsibility. What I will say is Greg Gard needs to make sure he gets some mentorship, and that starts with the coaching staff, down to team captains and then the rest of his Wisconsin teammates.

How will Wisconsin basketball coach Greg Gard handle Gus Yalden's off-the-court issues? (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)

Gus Yalden is a major part of Wisconsin's program moving forward, and while these mistakes are very regrettable, let's not derail the guy's career just yet. If there's a third incident, then I think much harsher criticism is 100% deserved, but let's hope it doesn't get there. Send me your reactions to David.Hookstead@outkick.com.