The Wisconsin men’s basketball team officially begins ramping things up next week, and Greg Gard has a pretty clear idea of what needs to happen between now and the start of the season.
Following the Badgers’ annual run up Bascom Hill, Gard met with reporters and provided a few updates on Braeden Carrington and his ongoing eligibility situation, the health and development of several key players, and Wisconsin’s efforts to improve defensively after finishing 56th nationally in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency last season.
Here are three things that stood out.
Wisconsin is still waiting on Braeden Carrington
There still isn’t a resolution to Carrington’s pursuit of another season of eligibility.
Carrington has remained around the program throughout the offseason while Wisconsin waits to see how his case and the broader eligibility landscape unfold. Gard said the case Carrington is attached to is expected to come at the end of September.
“We’re like everybody else in the country. We’re watching what’s happening nationally every day,” Gard said. “So we’re just floating in that regard, knowing that there could be some curves in the road.”
Wisconsin intentionally left itself positioned to wait this out rather than moving in another direction, and it’s easy to understand why. Carrington appeared in 34 games last season and averaged a career-best 8.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 18 minutes per game while shooting 40.1% from three off the bench.
“We wanted to walk down this road as far as we could until we either got a green light or a red light,” Gard said. “So, and we’ll ride that out.”
Asked later how he handles having this much uncertainty surrounding a potential rotation player this close to the season, Gard acknowledged that it comes with the territory in modern college basketball.
“Just have to stay chill and relaxed and calm and just know it’s coming,” Gard said. “You just have to be flexible. You can’t get caught up emotionally in that because those things are out of your control, right? You control what you can control.”
For now, Wisconsin waits.
Gard likes how much more physical Wisconsin looks
Wisconsin’s defensive shortcomings last season haven’t been forgotten.
The Badgers were terrific offensively, finishing inside the top 10 nationally in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency, but their defense never came anything close to that level. Gard made it clear that has to change.
“We were terrific offensively. We were not good enough defensively to be where we wanted to be,” Gard admitted. “We have to continue to be really good offensively. We’ll be a little different. We’re going to look a little different. I think points will come from different places, but defensively we have to turn the screws and be at a higher level.”
Gard believes Wisconsin is better equipped physically to make that jump.
Nolan Winter has added size after spending much of the summer away from live work, while Will Garlock and Victory Onuetu have made significant strides. Gard also singled out Hayden Jones, Jackson Ball and Owen Foxwell when discussing the physical development he has seen.
“Nolan Winter looks much improved physically,” Gard said. “He’s bigger, and I think him sitting out for most of the summer or not having the live wear and tear on his body was a good thing because it allowed him to really put on muscle mass and really put on weight.”
That size was intentional.
“Some of it was through the recruiting and what we did intentionally with some of the things on the front line,” Gard explained. “Having depth and size was important, and that will help your defense.”
The real defensive work starts next week. Gard said Wisconsin has intentionally avoided going too hard too early because playing good defense requires an intensity that can’t really be replicated halfway.
When practice ramps up, so will that emphasis.
Wisconsin is taking the long view with its frontcourt
There was also some encouraging news regarding forwards Winter and Austin Rapp, who both underwent cleanup procedures and were limited throughout the offseason.
Wisconsin made a significant investment to retain both players this offseason, giving Gard two proven frontcourt pieces to build around. Winter averaged 13.1 points and a team-best 8.5 rebounds per game while ranking second in the Big Ten with 12 double-doubles. Rapp averaged 9.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists, with the Badgers going 12-1 when he scored in double figures.
Gard said both remain on schedule. Winter has already returned to some live contact on what Gard described as a “pitch count,” while Rapp is less than two weeks away from reaching that stage.
“They both have progressed, I think, at the right level, and we followed the medical team’s instructions and what we felt best,” Gard said.
Wisconsin isn’t interested in rushing either one back for September workouts.
“Where they are September 17th isn’t as important as where they are on January 17th, December 17th, or March 17th,” Gard said. “We have to look at the big picture of having them ready to go and not trying to rush them back.”
Onuetu, a 6-foot-11 transfer, was also held out of the Bascom Hill run after pushing himself hard during the previous week and experiencing some discomfort. He averaged 4.7 points and tied for the team lead with 6.9 rebounds per game at Hofstra while shooting 56.6% from the field.
Gard characterized the decision to hold him out as precautionary.
“I keep looking at the calendar, and I don’t need him to block shots today,” Gard said. “I got to have him ready to block shots in November and December.”
That’s the approach Wisconsin can afford to take right now.
The Badgers staff feels it has more size and depth up front than it did a year ago. But with eight new faces to integrate, the priority over the next several weeks is making sure everyone is healthy while giving this group enough time together to find its rhythm before the games start to matter.
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