It didn’t help, either, that “five or six” agents tried to contact Clement last year, according to his mother.

“I think he lost the whole aspect of why he was there, and that was to be part of a team,” Latanya Clement said. “He wasn’t just playing the game. He was playing for the next level. Instead of just enjoying the game, he was at the next level already. He wasn’t still at Wisconsin. His focus went above and beyond where it should have been.”

It was a frustrating experience for Clement, who did not travel to College Park, Md. — just 127 miles from his hometown of Glassboro, N.J. — for the Badgers' game at Maryland after he suffered an injury setback against Rutgers the week before.

Hours after UW defeated Maryland without Clement, he was involved in a fight at his off-campus residence in which he threw the first punch — an incident for which he ultimately received two disorderly conduct citations.

He initially lied about the event to his parents and coaching staff, leading UW to release an incorrect statement saying Clement was acting only in self-defense and did not instigate the fight.

The truth came out in a Madison police report two weeks later. Clement was suspended for the Badgers’ rivalry game at Minnesota.