Wisconsin’s offseason headlines have been about the arrivals, but the move that may matter most is the one the Badgers made by keeping Nolan Winter.
That matters because players built like Winter do not come around often. He’s a seven-footer who can move, stretch the floor and make defenses work from all over the court. With his size and athleticism, he gives Wisconsin a true centerpiece as it tries to build around him.
Winter is coming off a junior season that put him firmly on the radar. He averaged 13.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 blocks while shooting 57/33/74. Now, after choosing to run it back in Madison, he’s already showing up in early national award chatter.
DraftKings listed Winter with the 19th-best odds in the Big Ten to win the John Wooden Award, college basketball’s top individual honor. He’s the only Badger included in the initial odds, and at +15,000 he’s a clear long shot. Still, being on the board at all says plenty about how the sport is starting to view him.
The Big Ten, as usual, is packed with talent. Illinois, Michigan State and Michigan all added more firepower this offseason, and that shows up in the early Wooden numbers. Wisconsin, though, has made a habit of outperforming outside expectations with players who don’t always get the same buzz.
There’s at least a case for Owen Foxwell and Eian Elmer to be in the conversation too, but both are much less proven and much less known than Winter. That’s why Winter is the lone Badger on the list.
If he’s going to turn that recognition into a real run at the award, the bar is high. Something like 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds a night, along with shooting close to 40 percent from three, would be the kind of leap he’d need just to get into Wooden Award finalist territory. Given how much he has improved year after year in Madison, it’s not impossible.
For now, Winter remains a long shot for one of the sport’s biggest prizes. But even this early in the offseason, he’s already being treated like one of the Big Ten’s more respected names.
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