Badgers Basketball 2025-26

Voyageur

Cheesehead
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John Blackwell has withdrawn from the NBA draft and is coming back to Wisconsin for at least one more season. This is a real boost for the program, because he offers leadership on the court that's going to be needed with so many guys leaving the program after exhausting their eligibility.

The starting lineup is far from being established at this point, but we can pretty well look at Blackwell as being part of it along with Nolan Winter. Beyond that, 3 transfers, Rohde, Rapp, and Boyd, look to round out the starting group.

Off the bench the following list.

Guard Jack Janicki (Sophomore) - With his shot and hustle, he's going to see substantial time on the floor.
Guard Braeden Carrington (Senior) - Could be used to a degree. Let's see how he's developed.
Forward Aleksas Bieliauskas (Freshman) - A real wild card. This guy could end up being a real high-profile player. They're going to need him out there for quite a few minutes, if he can produce.
Guard Zach Kinziger (Freshman) - I hope he lives up to the basketball hype we've seen surrounding him. I think he's going to need a year or two to develop. I hope I'm wrong.
Center Riccardo Greppi (Sophomore) - Hopefully he's ready. We don't have a great number of big guys to spell Winter. Winter commits fouls, so we need to have depth here.
Guard Jack Robison (Sophomore) - It's time for Robison to show all that talent he's supposed to have. He either shows it this year or ends up going through the portal before next year.
Guard Hayden Jones (Freshman) - I have my fingers crossed. He could be another find from the scouting staff, or he could end up being a project for next year. He's strictly a depth player this year.
Center Will Garlock (Freshman) - 6-10, or 7-0? Kind of skinny. Needs to muscle up because he's going to be used out there unless he can't hold his own. He reminds me of Winter as a freshman.

The Badgers will make the NCAA tournament, and quite frankly, this could be a better team than last year if all the pieces come together, despite the losses we had. This is a team built for speed, and transition play, at least on paper. Let's hope that they continue to play more of the Euro game instead of reverting back to the old Gard philosophy. It was a treat watching them play last year. We need even more of it.
 

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