Wisconsin men’s basketball has reached the point in September where roster projections start giving way to actual competition.
The Badgers have spent the summer installing, evaluating, and trying to integrate several important new pieces around their returning core. Now, with workouts ramping up and the season drawing closer, Greg Gard and his staff are beginning to learn what this team may actually become.
Wisconsin is coming off a 24-11 season that included a 14-6 Big Ten record and a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but also ended with a first-round loss to No. 12 seed High Point. With the program’s standard well established and another March run in mind, associate head coach Joe Krabbenhoft offered some insight into what comes next during an appearance with Mike Heller on the Badger Connect podcast.
Here are three things that stood out.
Wisconsin believes this group has a high ceiling
Krabbenhoft didn’t shy away from acknowledging how significant the roster turnover is.
Wisconsin has retained important pieces, but Owen Foxwell, Eian Elmer, Trey Autry, Victory Onuetu, and others will be asked to fill meaningful roles immediately.
That turnover also shouldn’t overshadow what Wisconsin managed to retain. Retaining Nolan Winter was a significant offseason win, while Austin Rapp returns for his second season in Madison after developing into an important piece of the Badgers’ frontcourt. That gives Gard two proven building blocks to construct the rest of the roster around.
The hope is that Wisconsin can surround them with enough shooting and playmaking to produce another highly efficient offense after finishing in the top 10 nationally in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency last season. The bigger question is whether the Badgers can pair that with an improved defense after finishing 56th in adjusted defensive efficiency.
“Coach, we talked today to the team, and he talked about a tremendous challenge for this group and for our staff specifically to bring this many important new players into the fold,” Krabbenhoft said.
That challenge also comes with some real optimism.
“We know the opportunity is great,” Krabbenhoft said. “We know we have a chance to do something special with this group, but it’s going to be a challenge, and we got to bring it all together.”
The goal isn’t being hidden, either.
“The goal is to play deep in March,” Krabbenhoft said. “Let’s not go away from that, and we’ve addressed that, but I think we understand as a staff the process that it takes to get to that point.”
That’s probably the most important distinction.
Wisconsin likes its roster. The staff believes the talent is there. But as we’ve seen across college basketball in the portal era, assembling talent is only part of the equation. It can take time for a group with this many new pieces to develop the chemistry needed to play together in a way that flows naturally.
Wisconsin’s back end of the rotation is wide open
The top of Wisconsin’s rotation is easier to envision.
What happens after that could become one of the most interesting storylines of the preseason.
“I think probably more than ever there’s going to be some tough decisions at that 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 hole,” Krabbenhoft admitted. “The guys who are going to be the guys that can come in off the bench and play meaningful minutes because there’s a lot of hungry, talented players both old and young alike.”
That’s where Wisconsin’s depth becomes both a luxury and a problem Gard and his staff will eventually have to solve.
Players like Hayden Jones, Jack Janicki, Zach Kinziger and Will Garlock have all been discussed throughout the offseason as possible contributors. There are freshmen trying to force their way into the conversation, too. The Badgers will undoubtedly have options.
Somebody is going to earn those minutes. Somebody else won’t.
Gard isn’t penciling anybody into the rotation
Krabbenhoft offered perhaps the clearest explanation yet of how those decisions will be made.
“I don’t decide playing time. You do,” Krabbenhoft said, describing Gard’s message to the team. “He always points up to the cameras. Put it on tape. We’ll be watching.”
That’s about as straightforward as it gets.
Wisconsin isn’t short on playable depth, particularly on the perimeter, and reputation alone isn’t going to settle those battles.
“The players will decide the minutes,” Krabbenhoft said. “That is very true and at the highest level. It’s a competitive world. We got a lot of good young talent. We got a lot of guys that can play at a high level and, you know, you can only play five at a time.”
That competition has already started to intensify.
Krabbenhoft said Wisconsin recently reached what felt like the unofficial kickoff to its fall workouts, and the change was noticeable.
“You could feel the level of intensity even jump, just because here we are in September,” Krabbenhoft said.
There are still plenty of questions surrounding this team. But Wisconsin doesn’t appear concerned about having enough potential answers.
The next several weeks will be about figuring out which ones Gard can trust when the games finally start to matter.
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While I cannot wait for BBall, I think it going to be exciting.. year, I have pretty much given up on Football already, The only thing I saw was a good kicker and a fair quarterback and a couple of good runs But when the competition gets tougher i think they will fold like a paper garbage can.. Womens VB looks shaky but hopefully that will come about.. On Wisconsin.. AZ Badger