Wisconsin men’s basketball 2025-26 Big Ten Media Days notebook
Here’s what we learned from Greg Gard, John Blackwell, and Nolan Winter about the 2025–26 Wisconsin basketball team at Big Ten Media Days.
It’s easy to forget how quickly things can change in college basketball until you walk into a setting like Big Ten Media Days. A year ago, Greg Gard and the Wisconsin men’s basketball team were answering major questions about NIL, roster attrition, and what felt like a program in the midst of a transition. Fast forward, and the tone is completely different. What once sounded like survival now sounds like conviction.
The Badgers didn’t just stabilize. They evolved. You can feel it in how Gard talks about trust, how John Blackwell carries himself as the face of this team, and how Nolan Winter describes a frontcourt built to stretch and space the floor. There’s a quiet confidence that comes from a roster that’s finally aligned with the system. The pieces fit. The plan makes sense.
The Badgers return just 32.4% of their minutes from last season, ranking 10th in the Big Ten, and only 40% of their starts, which is sixth in the league. Scoring continuity isn’t much better, with just over a third of last year’s points (34.3%) and rebounds (38.5%) coming back. The drop-off in playmaking is even steeper, as Wisconsin retains only 28.7% of its assists from a season ago. Inside the arc, 40.6% of made twos return, while just 29.5% of their 3-pointers do, both middle-of-the-pack marks in the B1G.
For most programs, that kind of roster turnover would sound like a rebuild. For Wisconsin, it feels more like a recalibration.
In short, this is a team that’s going to look different, and that’s entirely by design. But new doesn’t mean inexperienced. Thanks to the transfer portal, Wisconsin’s retooled roster is full of guys who’ve logged real minutes, won meaningful games, and understand how to fit into a system. More importantly, it’s a roster built with purpose, one that fits the identity Gard and his coaching staff have been steadily building toward.
“There’s an excitement in the air, definitely,” Gard said at Big Ten Media Day. “I think fans saw what we went through last year, how we played, and how exciting we were. And now we have another year in this evolution as we’ve continued to push the ball offensively. It’s an exciting group and an exciting time right now in Madison for basketball.”
Here’s what stood out about Wisconsin at Big Ten Media Days, and what it tells us heading into the 2025–26 college basketball season.
John Blackwell’s growth and Nolan Winter’s next step
When asked about John Blackwell, Gard didn’t hesitate. His tone suggested a coach who knows what he has and how rare it is.
“I think the biggest thing is physically,” Gard said. “I think he’s leaner, stronger, got more power to him on the offensive end in terms of when he gets downhill. Anytime you can keep adding rings to your tree as he gets older, those things all help. He played a lot as a freshman, even more as a sophomore, and now it’s his time. As I always tell the guys, you’re out of halftime of your career, it’s time to take a big jump. He’s ready to do that.”
After testing the NBA Draft process this offseason, Blackwell returned with clarity and purpose, knowing exactly what areas of his game needed improvement to raise his draft stock. As a sophomore, he started all 37 games, averaging 15.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.2 assists, proving he could produce at a high level every night. The staff now sees him as the go-to scorer, leader, and tone-setter for a team built around his strengths.
That same trust extends to forward Nolan Winter, who Gard says has taken his physicality to another level this offseason.
“It adds the ability to be consistently dominant,” Gard said of Winter’s added weight. “You can’t go into a sledgehammer fight with a tack hammer. He’s been able to add good weight, and I’ve noticed him being much more dominant and willing to initiate contact around the rim.
“The key is continuing to add the good weight and then holding the good weight because sometimes the season, specifically with bigger guys, it can drain the tank. So, it’s important for him from a diet, nutrition, hydration, and rest standpoint, that he understands and grasps the big picture of this, the long haul, and does the things that can help his body.”
Winter started all 37 games, averaging 9.4 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting 56.4% from the field in just 21 minutes per game a year ago. His 35.8% shooting from beyond the arc already showed his ability to stretch the floor, but the expectation now is to pair that shooting with a stronger, more physical presence inside. Gard’s message to his 7-footer is clear: it’s time to anchor the program on the interior as an inside-out presence.
Balancing tempo with defense
One of the biggest questions facing Wisconsin is whether this faster, more open style of offense can coexist with the Badgers’ defensive DNA. Gard didn’t downplay the challenge, knowing how important it’ll be.
“Defense is important,” Gard said. “They understand that. You can’t have one without the other. We were third in the league defensively last year and like 24th nationally. That needs to climb towards the top 10 and keep the offense towards the top 10. Then you’ve got a legit shot to play deep in the March. That’s analytically what a final four team looks like.
“We’re a little more mobile. We’re bigger across the board, not only at our fours and fives, but at the other places too, on the wings and at guard. So all those things can come together to help make you better defensively.”
Wisconsin wants to play faster offensively. They want to shoot more threes. They aim to establish tempo, spacing, and flow, which is the type of modern offensive identity that attracts top-tier talent and keeps defenses stretched thin. But Gard knows that in Madison, none of that means anything if it comes at the expense of defensive control.
This program will always hang its hat on its core defensive principles: discipline, communication, and structure that come with a man-to-man, heavy defensive scheme. However, Gard made it clear that there’s still room to tighten things up. He pointed to transition defense and 3-point prevention as the two biggest areas of emphasis moving forward.
“Analytically, for us, looking at how we can really turn the screws is to be better in defensive transition. And then be better at taking away threes. I think we got better as the season went on in affecting 3-point shooting, and you still have to be able to do that without fouling, right? We don’t want to put teams at the line, but transition defense and taking away the threes are really an important part of what we want to do defensively.”
The addition of veteran guards like Nick Boyd and Braeden Carrington should help there. Gard believes their college experience and collective size across multiple positions make this one of Wisconsin’s more mobile, switchable lineups in recent years. Blackwell has made a point to improve defensively, Winter’s added size gives him a better chance to hold up inside, and Andrew Rohde’s versatility adds another layer on the perimeter. With that mix of talent, this team has a level of depth that could allow Gard to extend the rotation and keep everyone’s legs fresh.
For Gard, it’s not about reinventing Wisconsin basketball; it’s about sharpening both ends of the blade. If this team can marry tempo and toughness, speed and structure, it has the potential to look like the kind of modern contender he keeps describing: one built for a run in March.
Roster building in the NIL and portal era
If there’s one topic Gard could have talked about all afternoon, it was roster construction. He doesn’t approach it like a recruiter; he talks about it like an architect balancing a budget. Every decision, every conversation, and every addition all come with salary-cap constraints.
“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.”
That has become Wisconsin’s guiding principle in the transfer portal era: recruit experienced players, retain the core guys when possible, and keep an eye on the long-term roster composition. Because, as Gard freely admitted, no matter how confident you feel in returning players, you never really know. Nothing ever gets written in Sharpie. Every offseason carries a new level of uncertainty. A player’s role might change. NIL opportunities shift. Personal circumstances might open the door for a transfer.
That unpredictability is why Gard and his staff keep a running shortlist of specific skill sets they need at any given time when it comes to shooting, size, inside out ability in the frontcourt, and backcourt creation, so that if a player who fits those criteria enters the portal, Wisconsin can immediately present its case: here’s the opportunity, here’s the role, here’s what we can offer financially. If the fit isn’t mutual, they move on quickly.
He described the process as “swimming in two different rivers.” One current moves pretty fast, the portal and international market, where decisions can be made in 24 to 48 hours. The other, high school recruiting, flows slower, more deliberate, and often more uncertain.
“The river of the transfer portal and international recruiting flies at such warp speed,” Gard explained. “The current is really fast. Decisions are made in 24 hours or maybe two weeks. You might recruit an international kid for two or three weeks. The portal might go 24 to 48 hours where you’re really intense with it. What’s the common denominator between those? They typically have agents, and it’s because they understand the business side of it. Here’s what we have to offer. Here’s our opportunities. Yes or no? So, it’s like free agency in the professional sports world.”
High school recruiting doesn’t move that fast, but it eventually comes down to the same decision: are you in or out?
“It’s every year: how can we put the best team together?” Gard said. “Hopefully, we’ll get more stability with multi-year contracts, but right now, we’re evaluating one year at a time.”
That reality, living season to season in a sport that used to move on four-year cycles, is where Gard’s experience and willingness to adapt show. He isn’t trying to fight the current; he’s learning how to steer through it.
“How do you build your team? It’s typically from the top down,” Gard said. “You have to know who your real horses are going to be and where your needs are, then build from there. If you get too young, you’re going to find yourself at the bottom of the ladder looking up really fast.”
That’s the new world of college basketball: adapt or get left behind. And for Gard, it’s no longer about holding on to what Wisconsin used to be; it’s about shaping what it has to become, one roster move at a time.
Wisconsin’s 2025 class looks promising
The Badgers’ 2025 recruiting class might not feature players who will immediately stuff the stat sheet. Still, the four-man class consisting of in-state products Zach Kinzinger, Will Garlock, and international recruits Aleksas Bieliauskas and Hayden Jones, looks like one of the more mature and skilled classes Wisconsin has brought in in quite some time.
Each brings a different strength to the table, and collectively, they could push for some of those rotational minutes earlier than expected.
“Hayden and Alexis come from a situation where the international experience they get at such a young age and the development they get puts them ahead of a normal 18 or 19 year old in terms of what athletes in the US are put through,” Gard said. “But then you look at Zach and Will, a very mature freshman group. Like physically, but also mentally, I think they’re they understand the big picture. They understand they’re here for the right reasons. And that goes back to who you recruit as freshmen.
“In today’s world, the transient nature of the portal, you have to really make sure we’re intentional with who we bring in through the portal, but we’re also really intentional on who we bring in as freshmen because they have to understand and want to be at Wisconsin for the right reasons.”
He went on to explain the importance of being intentional with who they recruit, both through the portal and at the high school level, emphasizing the value of long-term development over instant gratification.
“At that age, it’s not as transactional,” Gard said. “It’s still more old school development, education, wanting to be here, and wanting to be a part of something bigger than yourself. Internationally, they don’t have quite the grasp because they don’t grow up around college basketball. But from Zach and Will’s standpoint, they grew up watching us, so there’s a deeper understanding. But that group of four is going to help us this year.
“In what capacity is yet to be seen, but having those four as the youngest guys on your roster is a pretty good position to be in.”
This is a deep and experienced roster, especially within the supporting cast of guys they’ve added. Still, Kinzinger’s shooting, Garlock’s athleticism, and the polish and international experience of Bieliauskas and Jones give each of them a unique opportunity to push for minutes at their respective positions. Even if it doesn’t translate to an immediate role, the staff views this group as the next wave of players who will help carry the torch and sustain the culture that Wisconsin has spent decades building.
Emptying the clip
There was a clear trend at Big Ten Media Days from Wisconsin’s representatives: confidence. Not the loud, chest-thumping kind, but the quiet conviction of a group that believes it’s built to take another step.
Gard and his players were all quick to point out Andrew Rohde, whose versatility as a passer and secondary playmaker has already stood out.
“He went to St. Thomas to work on offense, went to Virginia to learn defense, and now he comes to us as a finished product,” Gard said of Rohde. His ball-handling, shooting, and decision-making should be invaluable to a team that plans to play faster and shoot more threes this season.
Blackwell mentioned that freshman Hayden Jones has impressed him with how quickly he gets downhill and how active he is on the offensive glass, which are two traits that could help him carve out an early niche.
Winter offered similar praise for Will Garlock, calling him one of the most explosive athletes on the roster. The staff views Garlock as a future cornerstone, but there’s an outside chance he may push for a few minutes sooner than expected, given his unique skill set in the frontcourt.
Carrington continues to earn strong reviews as a defensive stopper and spot-up shooter, someone who can bring energy and toughness off the bench. Gard and his staff believe this roster offers defensive versatility they haven’t had in a while, and having someone like Carrington, with extensive experience, come off the bench to maintain intensity is crucial.
And for all the talk about so many new faces joining Wisconsin, the chemistry already seems ahead of schedule. Players spoke repeatedly about how quickly the group has meshed, both on and off the floor, and Blackwell mentioned he felt this year’s supporting cast feels deeper.
Winter looks comfortable with his added weight: strong enough to battle fives when needed, but still mobile enough to stretch the floor.
Wisconsin’s going to shoot a lot more threes this season, and there’s a confidence internally that the offense will hum at an even higher level than it did a year ago. But everyone, from Gard down to the last guy on the bench, understands that defense will determine how far they go.
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