We’ve talked about big defenseman Brady Cleveland’s decision to leave his home-state University of Wisconsin Badgers to transfer to Colorado College for this upcoming season; today, the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discusses Cleveland’s decision-making process:
“The way things went at Wisconsin, I looked at it that I needed to go somewhere where I could play a lot of minutes,” Cleveland said last month during the Wings’ development camp. “A lot of minutes is going to lead to better development for myself as a player. I’m excited to play a bigger role on the team. Everything happens for a reason. It’s not always going to be a smooth journey, and I understood that. I’m going to take the lessons I’ve learned so far, move forward with them and try to be a better hockey player.”
Cleveland, 19, was limited to 17 games on the veteran-dominated Badgers, which was part of the frustration. Still, Cleveland appreciated the experience at Wisconsin and felt he progressed as a player.
“I got a lot stronger,” Cleveland said. “Just conditioning on the ice, the practices are tough at Wisconsin and that helped me. We had a really good team (at Wisconsin) and just going against those guys every day made me a better player, even if I wasn’t playing in every single game. I appreciate that.
“Off the ice, I learned a lot about myself and how much I am willing to overcome. Learning to play the game, for the love of the game and digging deep to find that, I found that.”
Continued (with a profile of Austin Baker); sometimes things don’t work out for players attempting to crack an NCAA Division I team’s lineup, and in Cleveland’s case, he had the transfer portal to utilize to earn a better chance at becoming a regular lineup player.
