Hello!! Welcome back to our 82 in 72 countdown on The Center Hub! We hope you have been enjoying our team previews counting down the days until college basketball is finally back! Today we are taking a peek at the Wisconsin Badgers and a program who looks to make a second straight trip to the dance! Here is where our team had the Badgers ranked for 2024-2025…

Greg Gard is entering his tenth season as the head coach of the Wisconsin program, and this past offseason might have been the most difficult for Gard when it comes to talent that moved on from Madison. Gone to greener pay-days (I mean pastures) are program staples Chucky Hepburn and AJ Storr, not to mention longtime Badger, Tyler Wahl has turned pro and Conner Essegian has transferred to rival Nebraska. The Badgers losing three rotational pieces on the perimeter hurts, especially a player that could be an All-American in AJ Storr…but I really am intrigued with some of the new pieces in Madison this season…My favorite being incoming freshman Daniel Freitag…

Freitag was ranked as the ninth best point guard in the 2024 class according to 247sports and has the perfect build to be a lead guard in the Big Ten. Freitag, a chiseled 6’3″ guard, dominated on the gridiron (ranked as a four star WR by 247sports) along with the hardwood in high school and picked up offers to play between the hashes for power five schools such as Notre Dame. His coordination is elite, and his change of speed is also top notch and the combination of speed+quickness and strength at his age and position is top-tier. He may not be an immediate starter, but Frietag is the future at the lead guard spot for this program and will surely be a high-impact rotation piece this upcoming season (and someone I think has an NBA future). 

Outside of one of my favorite freshmen in the country in Freitag, the Badgers return Max Klesmit and John Blackwell, both probable starters on the perimeter for the Badgers this season. Blackwell and Klesmit combined for 96 made three pointers last season and were the Badgers best three point shooters in 2023-2024, I expect their combined total to easily exceed 130 this season. Add in longtime Badger, Steven Crowl(26 3pm in 2023-2024, 62.6 TS%) and the Badgers are returning their three best shooters from last season. Crowl will start at the five for the Badgers this season and will be in consideration for All-Big Ten honors and possibly a few additional awards.

The piece in Madison I am most interested to see how ‘it fits in the puzzle’ this upcoming season is Missouri transfer John Tonje. Tonje played in eight contests last season before sitting out for the remainder of the season and previously played at Colorado State the four seasons prior. Along with Tonje’s experienced college career, he has also played for Cameroon in FIBA competition in the past. Tonje scored over 1,000 points while at Colorado State and shot over 37% from behind the arc in his last full season of action. Tonje’s shooting ability combined with physical ability and experience makes him a very tantalizing rotation piece for Greg Gard this upcoming season, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Tonje is starting alongside Klesmit and Blackwell to open the season. 

Returning to the rotation this season for the Badgers will also be senior Kamari McGee, senior Carter Gilmore, and sophomore Nolan Winter. All three of these players played under 25% of minutes last season for the Badgers and should slot in at the back-end of the Badgers rotation once again. 

The last rotational piece I wanted to highlight for the upcoming Badgers season is four star frontcourt transfer, Xavier Amos. Amos has seen a tremendous amount of improvement in his game from being a freshman at Northern Illinois that only saw a single start. An athletic forward who came into college basketball a bit raw, Amos broke out at Northern Illinois last season as a sophomore with some cleaner shooting mechanics and splits to follow(including 38% from behind the arc on over 100 attempts). If Amos can slide into the other frontcourt spot alongside Steven Crowl, the Badgers could form one of the most dangerous inside-out frontcourt combinations in the country.

This Badgers roster this upcoming season is bigger, stronger, and more athletic than not only last year’s team, but a majority of the rosters that Gard has coached in Madison. The Badgers have every opportunity to improve this season if the acquisitions of Daniel Freitag, John Tonje and Xavier Amos prove to bring the impact in Wisconsin’s upcoming rotation that I expect!