Returning Players

John Blackwell 25 – Guard (JR)
2024/25 stats – 31.2 MPG / 15.8 PPG / 5.1 RPG / 2.2 APG 

The offense will run through John Blackwell in what is likely his last year of college basketball. Blackwell has NBA potential and will be looking to build upon his resume this year to push himself to a 1st round pick. I expect him to lead the Badgers in minutes and points this year by a large margin.

Nolan Winter 31 – Forward (JR)
2024/25 stats – 21.1 MPG / 9.4 PPG / 5.8 RPG / 1.1 APG 

Last year, Nolan Winter was the 5th starter and got rotated out to get more of a true center in quite often. If his trajectory continues, expect that to change this year. Of the returning players, Winter is the leader in 3-point percentage and rebounds. As long as he gained some bulk, he could be looking at a Kaminsky-esque jump in performance in his 3rd year of play.

Jack Janicki 5 – Guard (SO)
2024/25 stats – 11.4 MPG / 1.9 PPG / 1.4 RPG / 0.8 APG 

Janicki will win the Naismith College Player of the Year, mark my words. In all honesty, though, Janicki will most likely be the 6th or 7th man in the rotation. When Gard wants a spark and some defensive intensity, expect Janicki to see the floor. While his rebounding and defense are excellent, his shot could use some work. If he’s been able to improve offensively over the offseason, he could push Rohde for a starting spot.

Riccardo Greppi 18 – Forward (SO)
2024/25 stats – 2.3 MPG / 0.9 PPG / 1.1 RPG / 0.1 APG 

Riccardo Greppi did not see significant time last year, but that could easily change this year. The Badgers only have 2 true centers on the roster in Greppi and Freshman Will Garlock. One of those two will likely see bench play similar to Carter Gilmore last year. Gard might be going all in on the 3-point game, but he still loves a strong defending big man in his lineup.

Jack Robison 11 – Forward (SO)
2024/25 stats – 1.2 MPG / 0.5 PPG / 0.3 RPG / 0.1 APG 

Isaac Gard 15 –  Guard (SR)
2024/25 stats – 1.2 MPG / 0.2 PPG / 0.2 RPG / 0.1 APG 

Jack Robison did not show much potential last year and Isaac Gard is only on the team because of nepotism. These two will only see garbage time play.

Transfers

Nick Boyd 2 – Guard (SR)
2024/25 stats – 29.8 MPG / 13.4 PPG / 3.9 RPG / 3.9 APG @ San Diego St

Nick Boyd was Gard’s biggest catch in the portal this past offseason. After four years, and a final four run, at FAU and one at San Diego St, he has the requisite experience to lead this Badger team. Like everyone else on the roster, Boyd is a pretty good 3-point shooter at 35.1%. The question with Boyd is, how does Greg Gard utilize him? Last season, the Badgers did not have a true point guard and managed to put together one of the best offensive seasons in program history. Boyd is a true point guard, and a pretty good one at that. Will he continue to be a true point guard, or will Gard again rotate the responsibilities of the point guard role?

Andrew Rohde 7 – Guard (SR)
2024/25 stats – 31.0 MPG / 9.3 PPG / 2.9 RPG / 4.3 APG @ Virginia

Sorry if I keep sounding repetitive, but Andrew Rohde is an excellent 3-point shooter at 41.3% last year. In addition to that, Rohde has a high clip of assists per game at 4.3. Expect him to fill in the role that Max Klesmit played last year, albeit with a much better 3-point shot.

Austin Rapp 22 – Forward (SO)
2024/25 stats – 33.0 MPG / 13.8 PPG / 6.5 RPG / 2.5 APG @ Portland

The only sophomore transfer this offseason, Austin Rapp, has the most upside of the new faces. He plays a very similar game to Winter and Crowl: a big man who can unload from 3. He shot the second most 3-pointers by a freshman last year in all the NCAA with 83. Even with all that upside, expect Rapp to be the first starter benched to get to the better defensive players on the bench.

Braeden Carrington 0 – Guard (SR)
2024/25 stats – 26.8 MPG / 7.4 PPG / 4.8 RPG / 1.7 APG @ Tulsa

Elijah Gray 6 – Forward (SR)
2024/25 stats – 19.7 MPG / 9.0 PPG / 3.8 RPG / 0.6 APG @ Temple

Braeden Carrington and Elijah Gray were both added late in the transfer cycle and project to be solid bench options. Carrington will be one of the first to attack the backboard with an impressive 4,8 rebounds per game, but lacks a good 3-point shot, unlike the rest of the roster. Elijah Gray will likely see more play than Carrington, only because the Forward rotation is much less deep. His numbers at Temple were fairly unimpressive, but he can play some good defense.

Freshmen

Aleksas Bieliauskas 32 – Forward
Kaunas, Lithuania

Zach Kinziger 4 – Guard
De Pere, WI

Hayden Jones 13 – Guard
Nelson, New Zealand

Will Garlock 23 – Forward
Middleton, WI

Zach Kinziger headlines an interesting Freshman recruiting class as Wisconsin’s best recruit since Ben Carlson in 2020. Gard tends not to favor Freshmen in his lineup, but I could see Kinziger breaking through, so Wisconsin doesn’t lose him like Freitag last year. Hayden Jones and Aleksas Bieliauskas continue the recent trend in Gard’s recruiting of going after international targets. Both are big question marks in regard to how their play will translate to college basketball. Will Garlock rounds out the recruiting class as the second true center on the roster. Gard is already heaping praise on Garlock, so we could see him slot into the Gilmore role instead of Greppi.

Projected Lineup:

John Blackwell
Nick Boyd
Andrew Rhode
Nolan Winter
Austin Rapp

Projected bench depth:

Jack Janicki
Braeden Carrington
Elijah Gray
Riccardo Greppi
Zach Kinziger

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This article was written by Jordan Longseth and edited by Hayden Breene