Wisconsin men's basketball roundtable: 2025–26 season preview
Wisconsin men’s basketball enters the 2025–26 season with nine new faces on the roster and big expectations. Our BadgerNotes roundtable breaks down the key questions and storylines.
After a 27-win season and a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Wisconsin men’s basketball staff didn’t dwell on how it ended. They went straight back to the drawing board. With multiple veterans moving on, Greg Gard and his coaching staff knew they’d have to be intentional about rebuilding the roster, and they had a clear plan for how to do it.
“It’s a balance that we talk about as a staff almost every day,” Gard said. “You don’t know who is going to be back, and now with the roster limitations, we just can’t throw things at the wall and see what sticks.
“We have to be really intentional and make sure you have the right people with the right mindset who want to be here, specifically from a high school standpoint. The hill to climb is a little harder because you have more older players on your roster, whether it be portal players or international. They’re coming with some experience and age. And you want to try and stay as mature, as experienced, and as old as you can.”
The result is a group with nine new faces, a retooled rotation, and an offense that continues to evolve around pace, spacing, and shooting. There’s optimism about how the pieces fit, but also plenty of questions about how quickly they’ll gel. So, we gathered the BadgerNotes staff for a roundtable to sort through it all, from the biggest question marks to the boldest predictions, and to determine what success might actually look like for the Wisconsin basketball program during the 2025–26 season.
Who is the most important player for Wisconsin heading into this season?
Dillon: For me, it’s Nolan Winter, and it’s not all that close.
The junior big man embodies everything that this program wants to be about. He’s been molded by the Wisconsin way, he’s invested, and it clearly mattered to him to come back and keep growing in Madison.
Now he’s stepping into a much larger role, not necessarily in the “traditional back-to-the-basket” sense at center, but as this team’s anchor in the frontcourt. Last year, Winter averaged 9.4 points per game, led the team in rebounding at 5.8, and somehow led the entire Big Ten in two-point field goal percentage at 71.5%. He also shot 35.8% from three, and that’s the part of his game I don’t want to see take a backseat.
It’s easy to talk about what Wisconsin needs from Winter on the block, and yes, he has to be stronger, more assertive, and physical against Big Ten bigs, but he also has to stay true to what makes him unique. He’s at his best when he’s stretching the floor, making defenses respect his jumper, and then using that spacing to create mismatches. He’s already shown the willingness to battle underneath even when giving up size, and now that he’s added some weight, I think a big leap is on the horizon.
How big Winter’s leap ends up being will likely determine this team’s ceiling more than anything or anyone else. And while I like some of the other frontcourt options Wisconsin has behind him, Winter feels like the most irreplaceable piece on this entire roster. You can patch holes elsewhere, but you can’t replicate what he brings if he hits his stride. That’s why, to me, he’s the most important player heading into the season.
Kedrick: Aleksas Bieliauskas turns 20 years old next month and has spent the better part of the last three years playing professional basketball in Lithuania. While he does not have “college basketball” experience, he has plenty of meaningful experience in a frontcourt lineup severely lacking it.
After a lackluster performance in the Red-White Scrimmage, Bieliauskas showed some flashes of his upside in the exhibition matchup with Oklahoma. Against the Sooners, Bieliauskas attempted four shots, all from beyond the arc, making two.
Will Garlock, the only other reserve big man who figures to be part of the rotation —a traditional freshman recruit fresh out of high school —lacks both that experience and the outside shot that Gard so craves in his new offense.
Gard tinkering with a small-ball lineup, putting John Blackwell in the frontcourt, during the exhibition against UW-Platteville showed the Badgers’ coaching staff making contingency plans if the reserve forwards are not up to snuff.
After watching that four-guard lineup turn the ball over twice and be held scoreless in its minute and 40 seconds of playing time, Bieliauskas is undoubtedly the most important player on this team. If he does not click, the waterfall effects are not pretty.
Seamus: You could make a compelling case for plenty of players on this team, which my colleagues just did above. It underscores the depth and balance of the 2025-2026 Wisconsin Badgers, which is undoubtably a good thing.
Still, I can’t imagine a world in which John Blackwell isn’t the most important player on this roster.
Blackwell is likely the most purely talented player on the team pound-for-pound. He won’t be asked to control the pace and set the table like San Diego State transfer point guard Nick Boyd, and he won’t be asked to do the dirty work down low like Wisconsin’s bigs. But he can score at all three levels and is a pesky on-ball defender; his talent, scoring and defense make him invaluable. He’ll need to improve on that 32.2 percent shooting from distance, however.
What’s the biggest question mark surrounding this year’s team?
Dillon: For me, it’s all about bench production, plain and simple. I think the starting five is going to settle in just fine, but whether Wisconsin can get enough consistent scoring and energy from its reserves is what I’ll be watching closest. Losing Kamari McGee and Carter Gilmore hurts a lot more than people might realize. Those guys brought energy, toughness, and knew how to star in their respective roles. Replicating that isn’t easy.
Jack Janicki feels like the clear sixth man, and I like his makeup. The effort, the competitiveness, the fact that Janicki had 31 assists to just eight turnovers last year. The staff trusts him for a reason. But offensively, he’s got to take a step forward. He shot 39% from the field and 27% on 3-point attempts, and for Wisconsin to stabilize its bench, that has to improve. The energy will always be there, but they also need production.
Freshman forward Aleksas Bieliauskas is intriguing. He’s played professionally overseas in Lithuania, understands ball-screen coverages, and can space the floor. He’s advanced for his age but still learning shot selection and decision-making. He and Janicki will likely be the top two options off the bench, with Braeden Carrington providing that steady, reliable veteran presence. Then you’ve got Will Garlock, who brings a different look in the frontcourt, and Hayden Jones, a big-bodied guard who can initiate the offense, both of whom could carve out niche roles.
The pieces are there, but the question is whether they can blend into a unit that produces consistently. I think the staff feels good about the depth they have, but until this bench proves it can hold leads and create runs, it’ll remain my biggest question mark heading into the season.
Kedrick: Following the departure of Steven Crowl, UW does not have a traditional forward to provide a defensive presence in the post for the first time in a long time. In the Gard-Ryan era, Wisconsin’s defense has been at its best when it chases opponents off the three-point line, but what does that look like with this frontcourt?
Against Oklahoma, Wisconsin surrendered 29 made shots from the field on 56 attempts. Only once last season–in a disastrous loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions–did the Badgers allow a field goal percentage worse than that 51.8%. The Sooners’ 84 points would have been the eighth-most against last year’s Badgers team in their 37 games. Oklahoma shot 55% from beyond the arc and only had one of its shots blocked while swatting away eight of Wisconsin’s.
Gard recognized some of the defensive woes against OU were due to his team not having played together before, some to miscommunication, and others to just being “not good enough.” But before even asking if UW can be as good as it would like to be on defense, we need to ask what it would look like if it hopes to achieve that.
Seamus: Does Wisconsin have enough in the low post to compete with some of the Big Ten’s premier big men?
Kedrick addressed this above, but Wisconsin no longer has a true back-to-the-basket forward whose primary job is to hold down the paint. Sure, Nolan Winter is a listed 7-feet tall, and Austin Rapp brings some height at 6-foot-10. But both are more stretch forwards who provide spacing and three-point shooting ability. That’s one of the main reasons the Badgers’ offense was so dangerous last season, but at the same time, they now appear to lack the size on the interior to match up body-for-body with some of the conference’s top big men such as Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, Illinois’ Tomislav Ivisic and Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn.
What does success look like for Wisconsin this season?
Dillon: That question really comes down to everyone’s favorite word: expectations. Success depends on the lens through which you view it. From my perspective, based on the way this program has invested, the way the staff talks about this group, and the general sense around the building, Wisconsin believes it has a chance to be legitimately good.
Now, that’s still going to hinge on a few key things. Offensively, the Badgers’ offense must continue to execute at an efficient, top-15 level in terms of efficiency. Defensively, they’ve got to take a noticeable step forward. If both sides of the ball meet those benchmarks from an analytic standpoint, this can be a team that wins a lot of games. How quickly it all comes together with so many new faces, that’s anyone’s guess. However, the standard must be clear: make the NCAA Tournament and compete near the top half of the Big Ten standings, putting themselves in the mix.
If Wisconsin does that and finishes the season playing its best basketball, that’s success in my book. Everyone would love to see Greg Gard and this group finally break through to the second weekend, and sure, that would be the exclamation point. But even short of that, building a product that’s cohesive, competitive, and clearly ascending by March would represent success in my eyes and give this program a shot when it matters most.
Kedrick: The Illinois Fighting Illini finished seventh in the Big Ten in 2024-25, won 21 games before selection Sunday, and earned a six-seed in the NCAA Tournament. If Wisconsin is successful, it will finish a season somewhere around there, earning at least an NCAA Tournament eight-seed, and will be wearing home whites in the First Round.
Gard proved his chops schematically a season ago, completing the overhaul of his offense and proving he can still go to the whiteboard and draw up the Xs and Os with the college basketball elite. This season, his challenge is to prove he can make it work on the fly by compiling a roster of more newcomers than ever before in the Gard-Ryan era and translating his wins in the portal to wins on the hardwood. A challenge much more difficult than having to incorporate some portal additions around the edges to a roster chock-full of program-developed talent.
If the Badgers have a season that looks like that, any doubt of Gard’s ability to compete in this era shall be put to bed.
Seamus: The second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Plain and simple.
Gard put together one of his most talented teams a year ago, a group that was a No. 3 seed with one of the most potent offenses in the nation. The Badgers ran into a surging BYU squad in the Round of 32, losing by a single possession. Still, last year’s team was absolutely one that could’ve made the Sweet 16. This years’ squad looks like it has the potential to be even better.
The Badgers have established themselves as one of the nation’s premier offenses and are ranked in the preseason AP poll for the first time since 2020-2021. They hauled in a decorated transfer class and return their most important players. It’s been eight seasons without a Sweet 16 appearance. The time is now.
If the Badgers exceed expectations, what will be the biggest reason why?
Dillon: If Wisconsin ends up exceeding expectations, I think it’ll be because the starting five truly takes the offense to another level. The pieces are there, that’s not in question, but this group hasn’t had a ton of live game reps together, and that matters. Last year’s team benefited from a lot of experience and continuity. This one’s got to build that chemistry in real time, and how fast that happens might ultimately decide the ceiling.
To me, it starts with John Blackwell. If he proves to be one of the better guards in the Big Ten, anything is possible. Pair that with Nolan Winter taking the jump that a lot of people in the program believe he’s capable of, and you’ve got a solid foundation. Nick Boyd must learn how to orchestrate at a pace that fits this group, and that’s where Andrew Rohde’s value as a connector becomes so important. He’s the guy who so often makes the extra pass and helps others on the floor find rhythm.
Then there’s Austin Rapp, maybe the biggest swing piece of them all. If his high-volume 3-point shooting translates consistently and he can bring that instant-offense spark, he elevates the whole operation. By season’s end, I could very easily see him being talked about and viewed as one of Wisconsin’s most important building blocks to focus on moving forward.
So if this team surprises people, I think it’ll be because the Badgers’ offense clicks, the ball moves, the chemistry sharpens, they play selflessly, and hit a ton of threes while not turning the ball over and do their jobs on defense. If that happens, this roster has enough shooting, spacing, and balance to look dangerous when the games matter most.
Kedrick: Wisconsin’s starting five is perhaps its most exciting since the 2016-17 season. If the Badgers can climb into a top-five spot in the Big Ten, it will likely be on the backs of a bench that contributes more than anticipated.
Jack Janicki’s Carter Gilmore-esque rise from walk-on to sixth man is inspiring, but can he find more to his game than a streaky three-ball?
Hayden Jones is an international recruit with tremendous size at 6-foot-6 on the wing, but he is only 18 years old. Even if his experience in the Australian NBL is against higher-quality competition than a traditional high school recruit, he does not have an outsized number of years of experience.
Braeden Carrington found his footing at Tulsa after a couple of up-and-down years with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, but can some of his career-best marks translate from the American Athletic Conference back to the Big Ten?
Yes, this is answering one question with three more (you could throw in my previous thoughts on Bieliauskas and Garlock to make it five), but it illustrates the point. There are reasons to believe the bench can grow into a reliable rotation, but, for now, there does not appear to be a Gilmore or Kamari McGee waiting to check in.
Seamus: Wisconsin is expected to compete in the upper echelon of the Big Ten and return to the NCAA tournament for a third-straight season as a frisky and dangerous team. If they surpass those expectations, it’ll be because multiple players are playing at an All-American level.
It’s not hard to imagine Blackwell making the leap into an All-American caliber shooting guard. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to see Boyd play at a comparable level at point guard. But if Wisconsin is going to surpass expectations, which would undoubtably vault them into the nation’s elite, less-heralded yet still critical players (Andrew Rhode? Jack Janicki?) must take their game to another level as well.
What’s one bold prediction for the Badgers this season?
Dillon: My bold prediction is that Greg Gard finally gets the monkey off his back and takes Wisconsin back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016-17. I know that’s not always the wisest kind of bold prediction considering the NCAA Tournament is a single-elimination, matchup-dependent chaos factory, but hear me out.
The way this staff has evolved, the way they’ve rebuilt the roster while staying true to Wisconsin’s core identity, it just feels like they’re closer than they’ve been in years to putting all of the right pieces together.
Every move they’ve made has been intentional. The roster is balanced, the culture is strong, and there’s a quiet confidence inside the program. This group knows who it is. That belief trickles down to the players. They’ve brought in players who fit their style, buy in, and play selflessly.
You’ve got legitimate closers like John Blackwell and Nick Boyd, who’ve proven they can deliver in big moments. There’s ascending talent across the board, leadership, and a sense that the collective is stronger than the sum of its parts. Sure, injuries and cold shooting nights can always derail a March run, but if everything breaks right, I think Wisconsin finally pushes through that barrier and gets Gard back into the second weekend.
Kedrick: Blackwell leading Wisconsin in scoring would not be very bold. After all, he was second only to the departed John Tonje. Adding that Blackwell will lead UW in scoring, rebounds, and assists might be bold enough.
Crowl, Winter, Tonje, and Blackwell were the only Badgers to gather 100 rebounds a season ago. Boyd and Rapp will likely replace Crowl and Tonje within that top four, but a rise for Blackwell that puts him on the path to the NBA could make him a leader in the category. Johnny Davis’ 255 boards in 2021-22 made him the only player on the wing in the Gard era to eclipse the 200 rebound mark.
An assists leader could come from anywhere in Wisconsin’s positionless offense, but Blackwell should find himself firmly in the mix. UW’s top three of Crowl, Max Klesmit, and Blackwell were separated by only nine assists a season ago. With the addition of a more traditional point guard in Boyd, Blackwell will not be directly initiating the offense as often this season. Still, if Blackwell can find his way out of enough inevitable double-teams, he could lead this category, too.
Seamus: Wisconsin loses its fewest out-of-conference games since 2014-2015.
Gard has warned that it’ll take time for this team to gel. With a litany of newcomers, that’s fair. But looking at this out-of-conference schedule, there’s not a game I don’t like the Badgers’ chances in except No. 8 BYU in Salt Lake City.
The 2014-2015 squad dropped an early December game to Duke at the Kohl Center, which would obviously be a portent for how the season would end. Still, it was that team’s lone out-of-conference loss. I think these Badgers are better than the national media is giving them credit for right now, and even with so many new faces, this team is going to be a matchup nightmare to and a headache to defend.
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Gard (always underestimated) is my main man.