B1G Basketball Previews 2026: Wisconsin Badgers

Last Season

Never doubt Greg Gard. I wasn't sure what to expect from the Badgers last season, but a star turn from John Tonje and a three seed in the tourney wasn't it. They also made it the championship round of the BTT but got bitten by Auburn North. Then the Mormons came for them in the second round of the tournament, so they even maintained the B1G's postseason reputation.

Kind of...: I mean, there are some grumpy fans who will tell you to doubt him in March, as the Badgers last made the Sweet 16 in 2017 and Gard has never done it "with his own players." The first half of that statement is true. The second half ignores that Gard was Bo's top recruiter. Either way, losing to BYU in Denver is certainly more defensible that the no-show against James Madison in '24, so Gard has some leeway based on last year's job.

Defectors

• John Tonje turned his wonderful season into a second round pick for the Jazz
• Steven Crowl, Max Klesmit, Kamari McGee, Carter Gilmore, and Markus Iiver finally ran out of eligibility
• The portal claimed its prizes in Xavier Amos (Loyola Chicago), Camren Hunter (Central Arkansas), Daniel Freitag (Buffalo), and Chris Hodges (Montana State)

Kind of...: Obviously Tonje is a huge loss, but one that I think Wisconsin is actually positioned to address quite smoothly (see below). Crowl was frequently an infuriating player to watch, but it's not crazy to think his defense will be harder to replace than Tonje's offense (see below).

The portal losses are, um, acceptable. Freitag was much hyped, but was absolutely lost as a frosh last year in limited minutes.

Starters

• PG Nick Boyd, 6'3'' Senior: Boyd comes in as a fifth year senior after a year at San Diego State and three at Florida Atlantic, where he actually played quite a bit on FAU's Final Four team. Last season, he led the Aztecs in scoring and assists while shooting a respectable 35 percent from deep. Should be a very solid player for the Badgers. He might even have a little something in store for Dusty May.
• SG John Blackwell, 6'4'' Junior: While Tonje clipped him as the Badgers best player last season, Blackwell was also really good and figures to be in line for for some awards. He is on the preseason All-B1G team and can do everything. The issue last year was his three point shooting dropped from 45 to 32 percent. If he raises that, he will be a star.
• SF Andrew Rohde, 6'6'' Senior: "Rowdy" Rohde comes over after two years at Virginia and one at St. Thomas. A pretty interesting player - he led the Cavaliers in assists and steals last season while shooting 41 percent from deep. Seems like a natural fit for the Badgers, which makes sense because he is originally from Wisconsin.
• PF Austin Rapp, 6'10'' Sophomore: Gooday mate! Throw another shrimp on the barbie! Rapp hails from Australia and spent his freshman season at Portland. As said freshman, he led the team in blocks and rebounds while shooting 236(!) threes and making a respectable 34 percent. Greg Gard just trembled.
• C Nolan Winter, 7'0'' Center: Winter really improved last season as a sophomore and was very efficient in scoring while also being very effective on the glass. He will also pop out and shoot threes, so this team could be a nightmare to defend.

Kind of...: Blackwell played out of position at PG last year to accommodate Tonje. Boyd IS a PG, and a very fast one at that. The thought is Boyd and Blackwell (now at his natural position) could be equal to last year's backcourt. Likely better defensively even if neither is individually a match for Tonje's foul-drawing wizardry (though Boyd shot 10 FTs in the scrimmage the other day, and that HAS TO have predictive power, right?).

Winter, height notwithstanding, is a PF. He's added some weight, but he's still not Crowl defensively. So, yeah, this team will be a nightmare to defend as everybody can hit 3's and there's sufficient height. But if you've got a big body, then you have something Wisconsin (probably--see below) does not. But, yeah, Rapp and Rohde are pretty good replacements for Crowl and Klesmit. And if Winter makes a leap--and his athleticism is obvious--this could be a really fun season.

Bench

• SF Braeden Carrington, 6'5'' Senior: Old Friends are new again. Carrington comes from Tulsa after two seasons as a Gopher. He's never been particularly special at anything, but as a depth piece I suppose the Badgers could do worse.
• SG Jack Janicki, 6'5'' Sophomore: Janicki got some run as a walk on last season, getting about ten minutes a game. Apparently on scholarship now, he figures to stay in the rotation as someone who Can Be in the Right Place, which coaches love.
• PF Elijah Gray, 6'8'' Senior: "50 Shades" comes over from Temple after two seasons at Fordham. He was reasonably efficient around the basket and was at least willing to shoot threes if not any good at making them, but he shouldn't be counted on as a big scorer there.
• SF Jack Robison, 6'5'' Sophomore: Robison played fewer than 20 minutes as a freshman last season. We'll see is more than DNP fodder.
• Four freshmen for the Badgers. Some international flair as they grabbed a Kiwi guard from New Zealand in Hayden Jones, as well as a hard to pronounce power forward from Lithuania named Aleksas Bieliauskas. That's a lot of vowels. They also signed Zach Kinziger, a four star guard, and Will Garlock, a three star center.

Kind of...: If Carrington can be a solid back-end rotation guy, he'll have done his job. Janicki is, hopefully, on the shorter-but-better-on-offense Carter Gilmore track. Gray didn't play in the scrimmage. Let's consider him a scratch-off lottery ticket. Robison was a solid recruit, but projects more as somebody who will blossom as a JR/SR. Wisconsin has a pretty good track record that way, but that also means don't look for much from Robison this year.

As for the frosh, Bieliauskas is likeliest to be a factor this year. This is both because of team need and because of his development. The roster says he weighs the same as Winter but whether it's Euro-craftiness or natural instinct, he's better at throwing it around in the lane. It might also just be because he's more willing to rack up the fouls. Will be worth paying attention to. He could be a key piece.

Jones is in Madison compliments of Kirk Penney, who left the staff but is making sure his former presence is still being felt. Jones could be a Swiss-army knife type who fills the stat sheet (the way Kirk Penney used to...my favorite Badger ever), but it's probably expecting too much for that to happen this year. Do keep his name in mind though.

Kinzinger is the hoped-to-be-elite shooter and was a good get. But he's also a true frosh. Don't expect much this year.

Garlock has been getting rave reviews for his athleticism. But if you parse the reports, it's not "This guy is Zion Williamson 2.0," it's "This guy is 7'0", 240, which is where most of our bigs end up, so it's really cool to have a true frosh who moves well and isn't built like a toothpick!" Still, sounds like Bieliauskas was pushing him around a bit, so, best case, Garlock comes on at some point during the season to provide meaningful minutes.

The Badgers also have 6'10", 255 sophomore Riccardo Greppi from Italy on their roster. If you squint hard enough, he has the size and makeup to answer the rotation questions concerning the interior. But he hasn't exactly inspired confidence, playing only 12 minutes in the scrimmage. Still, he does have five fouls to give!

Outlook

I really like the starting five for the Badgers. Three playmakers, plus two big guys who will rebound and pop out to shoot. They could be really tough to defend. The bench is less certain and I think the difference between a solid Badger team and a contending Badger team is if a freshman or two emerge.

Of course, the the biggest addition may be Brad Davison, who is back as Assistant Head Coach. Wait, I'm told that is wrong. He is apparently the Special Assistant To The Head Coach.

Kind of...: The depth is definitely the biggest question mark. Last year Carter Gilmore and Kamari McGee blossomed into very effective bench players. You can't always count on that, but there are a lot of possible ways to cobble together an effective distribution of minutes to the bench. Almost all of them require a tall guy showing something. But they also have the look of a team that could do real damage in March if the shots are falling. I'm optimistic. But that might just be in comparison to the atrocity that is the football team. Hey, that's worked for Purdue recently!