wisconsin basketball

Welcome Home Brad

Jordan Longseth / October 7, 2025 / Leave a Comment

Did you know Brad Davison played quarterback in high school? If you watched Wisconsin Basketball from 2017 to 2022, I’m sure you heard that fun fact every other game. Little did any of us know that he was throwing passes to eventual Brewers rookie of the year candidate Isaac Collins. Now, after a short pro career in Spain, Brad is back in Madison to join Gard’s coaching staff. All roads from Maple Grove, Minnesota, lead to Wisconsin, I guess.

The Loss of Kirk

Before I break down what Brad Davison brings to Wisconsin, I do have to mention the loss of Kirk Penney. Penney was an assistant for only 2 years, but was able to make a significant impact on the program. As the Badgers’ unofficial Offensive Coordinator, he played a significant part in revolutionizing Gard’s offense. He brought a modern perspective to Wisconsin’s plodding swing offense, leading to the team’s best offensive season since the 80s. Gard claims that he was calling the plays this past year, while Penney was the one who helped define his vision. However, Gard stated that he will still be looking to keep Penney involved in the program from afar in New Zealand.

What

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Wisco Wednesday: Fire Gard – Part Two

Jordan Longseth / March 26, 2025 / Leave a Comment

Before we get into basketball talk, congratulations to the Badger Women’s Hockey team for winning the national title this past Sunday. If you haven’t seen Kirsten Simms’ two goals to win the game, go find the highlight. It might just wash a little bit of Saturday night’s loss away.

For starters, I am still in the camp that we should keep Greg Gard. While we had another disappointing exit in the tournament, Gard accomplished a complete 180 in Wisconsin’s identity in one season. In a season picked to finish 12th in the Big Ten, his team was able to grab a 3 seed in the tournament. The question is, will he be able to replicate a quick turnaround for next season? We will be losing 63% of our total minutes just to seniors graduating. Comments from Blackwell and Winter indicate that they will be staying in Wisconsin, but after them, it’s a whole lot of inexperience. If Greg Gard can hit it out of the park with the transfer portal once again, expect another season that crushes preseason expectations.

But at what point does regular season success translate to postseason success? Wisconsin hasn’t made the Sweet Sixteen since 2017, only …

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Wisco Wednesday: To Fire or Not to Fire – The Greg Gard Experience

Jordan Longseth / February 19, 2025 / Leave a Comment

Part 1

Wisconsin Basketball has been one of the most consistent programs in the past 3 decades. With 3 different head coaches, Wisconsin has been to all but 3 March Madness tournaments since 1997 (not counting 2020). In that same time frame, Wisconsin has won 6 Big Ten regular season titles, 3 Big Ten tournament titles, been to 3 Final Fours, and almost a national title (Winslow touched it). Dick Bennet and Bo Ryan account for all the Final Fours, all the Big Ten tournament titles, and 4 of the regular season titles while only accounting for one of the missed March Madness tournaments (1998). Greg Gard accounts for only 2 Big Ten regular season titles with 2 missed March Madness tournaments and quite a few early exits. That brings me to the subject of today’s Wisco Wednesday: “Fire Gard”, a phrase I have heard from many Wisconsin faithful. Originally, this article was going to assess the merits of the Fire Gard crowd. But after last night’s win against Illinois, I think it’s best to start with why Greg Gard deserves to stay as Wisconsin’s head coach going forward.

Before we go into Greg Gard’s recent success, let’s start with …

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Wisco Wednesday: Breaking Down Wisconsin’s High-Flying Offense

Jordan Longseth / February 12, 2025 / Leave a Comment

Before the 2024/25 basketball season, what word would you use to describe Wisconsin Basketball?

Gritty? Tough? Controlling? Simple? Slow? Anything that describes a dominant defense and a slow-paced offense that runs the swing offense to perfection would work. Dick Bennet, Bo Ryan, and Greg Gard made Wisconsin a defensive powerhouse that could reliably win games as long as they scored 60 points. And that’s what they did. Since the 1995/96 season, Wisconsin has averaged 64.7 points a game. That includes Dick Bennet’s 2000 Final Four team that averaged 59.9 points a game. Wisconsin’s best offense during that time frame was last year at 74.7 points a game. Wisconsin’s second-best offense was Bo Ryan’s first Final Four team at 73.5 points a game. This year’s team? 81 points a game. A far cry from Bo Ryan’s 300th win, a 48 – 38 slugfest against Virginia.

Why the change?

Why is this team scoring a historic amount? Simple, Greg Gard had to change things up to not lose his job. After multiple seasons where Wisconsin stalled out and ran simple offenses that were easily exploitable, Gard modernized his offense to be highly efficient. According to Ken Pom’s offensive efficiency rating, Wisconsin has …

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