Ever since Greg Gard took over as Wisconsin’s head coach in December 2015 there has been plenty of discussion about the Badgers and their potential. Gard would immediately lead Wisconsin to back-to-back runs to the Sweet Sixteen but has failed to return to that peak over the next nine years. Sure, he’s led the Badgers to a pair of Big Ten titles but recent early exits from the Big Dance have started to pile up.
Regardless, Gard returns for what will be his 11th full season as head coach of the Badgers and will be doing so with a slightly different feel to the roster. After playing a fantastic role on last season’s squad, star guards John Blackwell and Nick Boyd have both exited the program, with Blackwell transferring to Duke and Boyd out of eligibility. A few other names were lost to transfer or graduation but it’s those two guards that became important to replace this offseason.
It’s going to be a combination of incoming freshman and transfers filling those holes for the Badgers, who added three pieces through their own transfer class. Nobody quite compares to the player that Blackwell has become in recent years, but let’s not ignore the potential that Gard and company see in these new pieces.
The most exciting should be Eian Elmer, a 6-6 wing who put up decent production and was a significant part of Miami-Ohio’s unbeaten regular season. He’ll have every opportunity to play a starring role in this lineup and should slot right in at the 3. Wisconsin did get some backcourt help from the portal as well, landing former George Washington guard Trey Autry who put up 11 points a game and should also slide right into a starting role next season.
One major positive for the Badgers is the returns of both Austin Rapp and Nolan Winter, giving them quite a productive backbone for the frontcourt. 6-10 forward Victory Onuetu from Hofstra is the other new transfer who should add valuable depth at those positions as well. However, Wisconsin seems to be really leaning on freshmen or returning faces to fill that backcourt depth.
Last season both Boyd and Blackwell averaged at least 19 points a game and seemed to trade off starring roles on a pretty solid Badgers team. However, it’s hard to look at this roster and see just where a comparable level of production will stem. Incoming freshman point guard Owen Foxwell is a very solid player but he’s not going to be the star scorer from the jump. Wisconsin really needs someone like Jack Janicki or Hayden Jones to take that big step forward after bench work previously.
Make all the arguments you want about NIL, Wisconsin simply didn’t blow anyone away with their transfer class this season. Whether or not that’s how you win in this sport these days, it’s impossible to ignore the potential drawbacks. After all, these recent offseasons saw both John Tonje and Boyd come into the program and become a major weapon; can we really expect that out of someone like Elmer or Autry or are the Badgers heading towards another disappointing ending in March?
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