Badgers Basketball 2025-26

[Voyageur]

John Blackwell has withdrawn from the NBA draft and is coming back to Wisconsin for at least one more season.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.

 

[Voyageur]

I was watching a couple of clips of Austin Rapp, the new big man coming to Wisconsin out of Australia, via Portland where he was freshman of the year in their conference. The guy looks really good. He looks like a great bookend working with Winter.

Those two could do some heavy lifting on the boards and turn the inside game up a notch and a half compared to last year. With Blackwell running the team from the point and the addition of some darned good perimeter shooters this just might be a better team than any of us thought. They could be a contender for the Big 10 title.

Of course we won't know just how fluid they are as a team until they hit the hardwood for games that count. But we have reasons for having high hopes.

 

[Heyjoe4]

I was watching a couple of clips of Austin Rapp, the new big man coming to Wisconsin out of Australia, via Portland where he was freshman of the year in their conference. The guy looks really good. He looks like a great bookend working with Winter.

Those two could do some heavy lifting on the boards and turn the inside game up a notch and a half compared to last year. With Blackwell running the team from the point and the addition of some darned good perimeter shooters this just might be a better team than any of us thought. They could be a contender for the Big 10 title.

Of course we won't know just how fluid they are as a team until they hit the hardwood for games that count. But we have reasons for having high hopes.

Thanks for the intel on the upcoming men's BB team V. It would sure be nice for another team at UW to do well. I'm an MU guy, but except for the intrastate game, cheer for Bucky.

 

[Firethorn1001]

Ho hum, Blackwell moves on to go get paid somewhere else.

Least amount of time I've spent watching the tournament this year. Expect it to diminish even more next year.

 

[Voyageur]

Ouch! Losing 4 of top 6 scorers from this past season is not a good sign. I'm kind of wondering why Blackwell left to be honest. At first I thought it was money and exposure but then I got to thinking about how Gard is going to be moving younger players forward and it might have stolen some of Blackwell's court time. I think there's some explosive components on the bench that have some real long-term help for the Badgers. I'm not going to say great things for 26-27 but after that, could be some interesting basketball if they can find another big man to fill that inside role.

 

[Heyjoe4]

Ho hum, Blackwell moves on to go get paid somewhere else.

Least amount of time I've spent watching the tournament this year. Expect it to diminish even more next year.

The portal and NIL have damaged NCAA BB. On one hand, I think collegiate athletes should be paid if they help bring in money from advertisers and alumni. But that's the rub. Can't pay NIL money without players going somewhere to maximize that.

So NCAA BB looks more like MLB, where the best teams can simply be bought.

And agreed - little to no excitement this year for March Madness. It used to be one of my favorite things to watch.