Wisconsin basketball opens its exhibition slate today against UW-Parkside, and the first look at this revamped roster should tell Greg Gard a lot about where the Badgers are headed.
The 12 p.m. matchup at the Kohl Center comes in the 10th annual Garding Against Cancer game, and it arrives with plenty of curiosity attached. Wisconsin is rolling out a new-look 13-man roster built from familiar faces in the program, transfers from other schools, and international talent. Gard said earlier this month that he thinks the pieces are “really good,” but the bigger question is how far this group can go once the competition ramps up.
Defense is the most obvious place to start.
Last season, Wisconsin’s inability to get consistent stops was the clear weak point. The Badgers ranked 56th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency and 236th in points allowed, and they surrendered 85 points 10 times. Gard has said that team never fully clicked on that end.
That’s a big reason the Badgers went after defensive help in the portal, landing Eian Elmer from Miami (OH) and Victory Onuetu from Hofstra. Elmer brings production on both ends, but his defensive work stood out most last season.
He averaged 12.7 points and led Miami (OH) in rebounds at 5.2 per game while also piling up 42 steals and 23 blocks. Onuetu, meanwhile, gives Wisconsin the kind of rim protection Gard has not really had in his tenure.
He scored 4.7 points per game on 56.6 percent shooting and added 34 blocks.
How that translates in the Big Ten is one of the key things to watch, but Onuetu already showed he could impact a high-level game when he posted nine rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals against Alabama in last March’s NCAA Tournament.
Gard said the value of exhibitions is getting exposed to unfamiliar offenses and learning to defend without knowing the play calls. He believes this group may be ahead of schedule in that area because of the experience already in the room.
“They understand how important (defense) is going to be,” Gard said. “We've talked about that for months since we got here in June of what we needed to improve defensively.
I think the physical size of us, we're as big as we've been in a long time, and the depth. The depth piece I'll have to work through in terms of a true rotation when we get to that point, but they are extremely competitive.”
The size is hard to miss.
Wisconsin does not have a Nick Boyd-type veteran point guard on this roster, so the staff responded by leaning into the frontcourt. The Badgers are expected to start the season with a four-man rotation of forwards all listed at 6-10 or taller, and Gard made it clear he sees the modern game trending that way.
“If you watch the trends in college basketball, big is back,” Gard said. “We're going to have to utilize where our strengths are, and that's a lot of pieces up front.”
Nolan Winter is the centerpiece there. Keeping him for a fourth season was Wisconsin’s biggest offseason win, and his jump last year was enormous.
He averaged 13.1 points and 8.5 rebounds and finished with 12 double-doubles, second-most in the conference. He was also the lone Badger on the preseason All-Big Ten Team.
Austin Rapp became another important piece after an uneven start to his first season in Madison. He was benched in November and dealt with sickness and injury in January, but he found his rhythm late and turned into a major weapon.
He scored 17 points with four 3-pointers in the win at No. 15 Purdue on March 7, then dropped 18 points in the second half against Michigan in the Big Ten semifinals.
There was also a useful bonus this summer: both projected starters missed time, which gave second-year center Will Garlock and Onuetu extra reps. Garlock played in 30 games as a true freshman and was one of Wisconsin’s better passers.
Gard said the two bigs pushed each other throughout practice. “There were days where they didn't come off (the floor),” Gard said of Garlock and Onuetu.
“They just stayed out through the whole practice, and they obviously had to be on opposite teams ... You just watch the competitive level grow in each of them.
I think they pushed each other.”
With Elmer, listed at 6-6 and 222 pounds, expected to be the Badgers’ starting wing, Wisconsin’s offense may look a little different this season.
The final piece to watch involves the roster itself. Wisconsin left its last scholarship spot open after the transfer portal closed in the spring, keeping flexibility in a rapidly changing college landscape. That choice appears to have set the stage for Braeden Carrington to rejoin the team.
Carrington’s eligibility is still unsettled because of ongoing lawsuits tied to the NCAA’s new “five-in-five” model, which gives athletes five seasons of competition within a five-year span beginning when they enroll or the academic year after their 19th birthday. The rule was created to reduce the number of waivers being handed out, especially for players who had already graduated and begun professional careers.
Because last year’s graduating class was not grandfathered in, a lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order was granted in August. While that works through the courts, Carrington has been working out with Wisconsin all summer and fall and appears likely to be available for the exhibition season and possibly beyond in a reserve role.
He was originally brought in for defense, but last season he made a bigger mark on offense. Carrington averaged 8.3 points off the bench and shot 40.1 percent from 3-point range. His biggest night came in the Big Ten Tournament, when he scored 32 points against Washington and hit a program-record nine 3-pointers.
Wisconsin could be in a bind if Carrington is ruled ineligible. The Badgers already lost freshman Josh Manchester to shoulder surgery, and losing another guard would put the staff in a difficult spot with less than a month left before the season starts.
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