2024-25 ITH Season Preview: Wisconsin Badgers

  • 09/18/2024 7:44 am in

With the start of college basketball season in early November, we’ll examine the conference as a whole and Indiana’s roster over the coming weeks.

Today, our team previews continue with Wisconsin.

Previously: Penn State, Washington, Minnesota, USC, Northwestern, Nebraska, Iowa, Oregon, Maryland

Wisconsin won 22 games and earned a No. 5 seed in the 2024 NCAA tournament. However, after an upset loss to James Madison in March Madness, the Badgers had to retool their roster this offseason.

Greg Gard had planned to return four starters as he planned for his 10th season in Madison but it didn’t work out that way.

The team’s leading scorer, AJ Storr, left for Kansas. Its point guard, Chucky Hepburn, is now at Louisville. Rather than just needing to replace one starter in Tyler Wahl, the Badgers were tasked with replacing three.

The two starters who are back – Steven Crowl and Max Klesmit – have no shortage of experience. Both players are entering their fifth seasons.

Crowl, a 7-foot, 245-pound center, averaged 11.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists last season in 29 minutes per game. He also shot close to 45 percent on 3s and 74.2 percent from the free-throw line. With all of the roster turnover, Crowl should see his usage grow in his final season.

Klesmit, a 6-foot-4 guard, shot 39.8 percent on 3s and averaged 9.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 28.6 minutes per game. The Neenah, Wisconsin native will be one of the league’s top perimeter shooters.

While the loss of Storr leaves a significant void, Wisconsin is hopeful sophomore John Blackwell can take a major leap forward after a stellar freshman season. Blackwell earned All-Freshman team honors in the Big Ten while averaging eight points and 3.2 rebounds in 18.5 minutes per game off the bench. He shot 45.5 percent on 3s and 82.1 percent from the free-throw line. The 6-foot-4 guard will be a focal point of the Badger offense and can also become a disruptive defender.

The Badgers also dipped into the portal and landed Missouri transfer John Tonje, who played just 78 total minutes last season due to a foot injury. The 6-foot-5 wing was a major factor back in the 2022-23 season at Colorado State. Tonje averaged 14.6 points and 4.7 rebounds at Colorado State and shot 38.9 percent on 3s. Wisconsin is hopeful his injury is behind him and he can return to that form.

Hepburn’s departure means Wisconsin will have a competition for starting point guard minutes between Central Arkansas transfer Camren Hunter and freshman Daniel Freitag.

The 6-foot-3 Hunter sat out all of last season due to a foot injury but was an All-ASUN selection in the 2022-23 season. The lefty guard averaged 16.9 points, five rebounds and 3.9 assists in 34 minutes in that season and Wisconsin is hopeful his game will transfer to the Big Ten.

Freitag was a four-star prospect in the final 247Composite rankings for the 2024 class from Minneapolis. Known for his speed and athleticism, Freitag could push Hunter for point guard minutes. Wisconsin also returns 6-foot senior Kamari McGee, who averaged 2.1 points in 8.2 minutes last season. He’ll provide additional point guard depth.

The graduation of Wahl opens minutes at the four and the Badgers recruited Xavier Amos from Northern Illinois, who will compete with several returnees for playing time.

The 6-foot-8 Amos also dealt with injuries during his two seasons at Northern Illinois. He appeared in a total of just 32 games over two seasons but was highly productive when he was on the floor last season. In 25 games for the Huskies, Amos averaged 13.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and shot 38.5 percent in 30.9 minutes per game.

Frontcourt depth shouldn’t be an issue as Wisconsin also returns 6-foot-11 sophomore Nolan Winter, 6-foot-7 senior Carter Gilmore, 6-foot-9 senior Markus Ilver and 6-foot-9 redshirt junior Chris Hodges.

Winter is the likely successor to Crowl and was a top 100 recruit in the 2023 class out of Minnesota. If he can continue gaining weight and strength, he should be the next productive Wisconsin big man.

Gilmore, Ilver and Hodges are unlikely to play major minutes unless Amos has an injury setback.

The Badgers also welcome two other freshmen in 6-foot-6 wing Jack Robison and 6-foot-10 big man Riccardo Greppi, an Italy native. Robison was a three-star prospect in the final 247Composite rankings and played at Lakeville North, which also produced Wahl and Winter. Greppi was a late summer addition and gives the Badgers another big body for post-depth.

Bart Torvik’s 2024-25 season projections have Wisconsin at No. 41 nationally. The Blue Ribbon college basketball yearbook picked the Badgers to finish 11th in the Big Ten and 12th in the league by Lindy’s Sports college basketball preview magazine.

Bottom line: Gard is unlikely to take the program to the heights it achieved under Bo Ryan, but Wisconsin has a relatively high floor under his leadership. The Badgers have won 20 games in seven of his nine seasons at the helm and are typically in the mix for an NCAA tournament bid. This group looks like a fringe tournament team on paper and will rely on several transfer portal additions coming off injuries to succeed.

Quotable: “We have a good group back. We’re not getting talked about a lot, which is fine. I like what I see here. And we’ve got a group that’s ego-less and committed to winning. That’s really, at the end of the day, what matters. We don’t hang any banners in July, you know? So I don’t care about who wins the transfer portal national championship. It’s about getting the right people with the right mindset who want to be here and who want to chase championships. And then we work to put everything together.” – Gard to the Blue Ribbon college basketball yearbook.

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