Like most Wisconsin Badgers fans, I was deeply disappointed when news started trickling in about prized running back recruit Amari Latimer switching his loyalties to West Virginia on signing day. While I had never ruled out this possibility, I felt reasonably confident that he’d sign with Wisconsin on Wednesday. But then the floor fell out, and Latimer was gone.I fired off a spirited podcast soon after that laid the blame for it at the feet of Luke Fickell, but the last day or so has given me time to more deeply process this nuanced situation, and my thinking on it has changed considerably.Wisconsin Got Played, But That’s Not All On FickellWhile this doesn’t absolve Fickell of all responsibility for losing Latimer, or lessen my support of college athletes taking care of themselves financially, it does frame things a bit differently. I want to state at the outset that my current position has resulted from reading the tea leaves and having a few off-the-record conversations with people better connected with the program than I am. It’s not a fact; it’s a best guess, good good-faith attempt to understand the dynamics at play. I believe that while there was a reasonably firm belief inside the Wisconsin locker room that Latimer would sign heading into yesterday, his camp was obviously still robustly exploring other options, and used that to try and leverage additional money from the Badgers after West Virginia offered a massive bag. It was reported publicly that Wisconsin upped the offer during signing day, but apparently, ultimately didn’t match West Virginia, and Latimer was off to Morgantown.This view of things makes me willing to give Fickell more grace, and, for reasons I’ll get into, the Badgers’ bowing out actually made sense, especially with another highly-rated running back in the fold already in Qwantavius Wiggins. Wisconsin clearly did well to have another talented running back in this class in case Latimer bolted.While we’re all grown-ups here–it is the wild west, NIL era after all–some unexpected 11th hour moves by Latimer’s camp obviously majorly factored into the Badgers losing him. The fact that his brother, Geimere, is (for now) a Badger could have further complicated things. Letting Latimer Walk Was Probably a Sound Program DecisionOnce it became clear that the Latimers had dragged Wisconsin into a full-fledged signing day fight with a West Virginia program that had a sack full of golden rocks to play with, Fickell was faced with a very difficult choice: Overpay for an important but non premium position or take the money earmarked for Latimer and use it in the transfer portal, including the savings from not matching the Mountaineers. It’s a terrible choice to have to make, and Wisconsin did, per recruiting insider Steve Wiltfong, up their offer to Latimer yesterday, but ultimately the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze for the Badgers when that new offer was rejected, and they let their prize recruit walk, perhaps to his family’s surprise.Here’s why this was likely a wise move: The chances of finding a good portal running back who has already proven that he can get it done at the college level are pretty high, and the wild reality is, he’ll probably be less expensive than what the Badgers were willing to pay for a high school senior. Ironically, there’s less risk in going after a portal running back than bringing in Latimer, despite what appears to be a massive upside. And the NIL balance can be applied toward any number of other soft spots Wisconsin will need to address in the portal.What it Means For The Badgers Going ForwardWhile there’s no getting around the bad optics for Wisconsin, the reality is that they might be better off in the end by not giving in to some wild NIL demands yesterday. I was too hard on Fickell after Latimer flipped, and I’m sorry about it. That was a mix of emotion and frustration and was a bit out of character for me. But, in fairness, I was hardly alone on that wall.Here’s to my hope that Wisconsin uses that Latimer money to bring in a good veteran running back to steady a room that’s likely to lose at least one guy to the portal, and the rest of it to help take care of more important positions like quarterback, offensive line, cornerback, and safety. This staff is going to need a number of real hits this offseason to be better in 2026.