Want to rile up a University of Wisconsin sports fan? Mention the absent baseball program, which hasn’t existed since 1991 despite longstanding cries for its resuscitation.
But a former Badgers athlete just got drafted in the 10th round of the 2025 MLB draft. Surprise!
Daniel Wright, a 6-foot-9 pitcher, was taken in the 10th round by the Chicago White Sox. In 2020, he walked on to play quarterback for the Wisconsin football team, then returned to baseball in 2022 at Iowa Western Junior College, before landing at Houston, then Iowa.
He had a 3.41 ERA with the Hawkeyes last year and has 80 innings of Division I pitching experience.
Wright, an Iowa native, threw for over 7,000 career passing yards and 78 touchdowns and had preferred walk-on offers from UW and Iowa State when he came to campus. He sat behind Graham Mertz, Chase Wolf and Danny Vanden Boom on the depth chart initially. He entered the transfer portal in July 2021.
The 23-year-old was the 286th pick of the draft, the first selection in the 10th round. His selection has a slot value of $195,300.
Yes, he played basketball in high school, too, for those of you wondering how a 6-9 athlete has managed to play two other sports in college besides hoops. He was all-state in both football and basketball.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The University of Wisconsin hasn’t had baseball since 1991, but an ex-Badger just got drafted into MLB
Reporting by JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
