Joe Krabbenhoft breaks down Wisconsin basketball’s approach to rebuilding the roster
A look at Wisconsin basketball’s offseason roster-building strategy, from retention wins like Nolan Winter to targeted transfer portal additions.
At a certain point in the offseason, it’s not about who you can add — it’s about whether what you’ve built makes sense. For the Wisconsin men’s basketball program, this offseason has revealed a very intentional vision.
And if you listen closely to how the staff talks about it, the approach wasn’t reactionary. It was planned well before the portal ever opened.
Wisconsin was slower to land a portal commitment than most power-conference programs this offseason. Still, part of that came from understanding how quickly the market escalated and staying disciplined enough to trust its evaluation process rather than chasing everyone else.
“Obviously, to get the guys back — starting with the incoming freshmen, Jackson Ball and LaTrevion Fenderson — those are tremendous additions we were able to make over a year ago through evaluations and connections,” assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft said on Butchie’s Den.
“As the retention process started, those talks began before the season even started last year — with our staff, with our GM Mark [VandeWettering], with their representation, and even their families. We haven’t forgotten about the human element of all of this.
“That’s the difference between what we experienced as professional players and this landscape now, which is kind of a hybrid of both. Specifically at Wisconsin, we haven’t forgotten about the human element.”
That part matters more than it used to.
In an era where roster building is constant and decisions are often driven by short-term opportunity, Wisconsin has tried to strike a balance between the business side of the sport and the relationships that still define it. And nowhere was that more evident than with Nolan Winter.
“The big one, obviously, was Nolan Winter,” Krabbenhoft said of retaining Winter this offseason. “That goes back six, seven, eight years ago, when we first saw him… he’s been a huge piece of this program — a pillar — and is going to continue to improve and have a tremendous senior year.
“We wouldn’t be able to get Nolan Winter — his production, stability, the kind of person he is — out of the portal. So for him to want to be here and make that clear played such an instrumental part in other guys returning.”
