Wisconsin men's basketball lands experienced transfer forward from Temple
Temple transfer Elijah Gray has committed to Wisconsin men's basketball, giving the Badgers an experienced forward to strengthen their frontcourt.
The University of Wisconsin men's basketball program has officially filled its final roster spot for the 2025-26 season.
That spot belongs to Elijah Gray, a transfer forward from Temple who announced his commitment to the Badgers for his final year of eligibility.
“We’re excited to welcome Elijah to the Badger family. He brings a lot of experience to the table having three years of college hoops under his belt,” Greg Gard said. “We’re excited to have him on campus this summer and work with us for the upcoming season.”
It’s not a splashy move, but it checks a box that Wisconsin's staff desperately needed to get checked before the season. Gray, a 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward out of Charlotte, North Carolina, brings with him the kind of experience, toughness, and reliability that doesn’t always show up in box scores—but sure as hell shows up in college basketball games that matter.
If you’re unfamiliar with his journey up to this point, here’s the rundown.
Gray spent the 2024-25 season at Temple playing under Adam Fisher, where he played 25 games as a key reserve for the Owls.
He averaged 9.0 points and 3.8 rebounds on 48.1% shooting from the field, adding just enough perimeter threat to keep defenses honest (30.4% from three, 75% at the free throw line). And in conference play, Gray stepped it up a notch, averaging 10.1 points and knocking down 41% of his 3-point attempts.
He posted a +1.1 points above replacement, a 102.2 offensive rating, a 23.2% usage rate and grabbed 14.8% of available defensive boards, per Bart Torvik.
Notably, Gray scored in double figures 11 times off the bench, posted a double-double against Tulsa, and even hit the game winning shot against Davidson—Temple’s 2,000th win in program history.
Before that, Gray spent two years at Fordham.
As a sophomore, Gray averaged 8.4 points, 3.7 boards, and 0.8 assists across 32 games, including nine starts, and led the team in free throw percentage at 76.7%. He posted a career-high 22 points against George Washington.
As a freshman, he saw time in 29 games and worked through the typical growing pains of finding your role at the college level, averaging 2.7 points and 2.0 rebounds a night in just over seven minutes per game.
In short? This is a guy who’s been through it and played meaningful minutes. He’s been a role player, a part-time starter, and a closer. He’s worked his way up from the A-10 to the AAC, and now he’ll test himself in the Big Ten. And for Wisconsin, he fills a very specific need.
Let’s call it what it is: Gray looks like a Carter Gilmore replacement. That tweener forward spot is so valuable in Gard’s rotation. It allows him to stagger minutes for his bigs without having to lean too heavily on a true backup five, which is a big deal when depth is still developing. Gray slots in as the guy who can absorb minutes, defend multiple positions, move the ball, and just give you some peace of mind. You know what you’re getting when he checks in. That’s the luxury Gray could bring to this team.
Gray does most of his damage around the rim, scoring on 57% of his shots in close, and brings just enough length and athleticism to make you take notice. His game is still coming together in some areas, but the jumper isn’t broken, and that alone makes him a viable floor spacer who can pull a defender away from the rim and keep things moving. He should benefit from an offense built on spacing, surrounded by shooters who’ll draw more attention on the scouting report and free him up for clean looks.
He’s not a bruiser, per se, but he’s not soft either. He’s more than willing to get his body into guys down low to carve out space and hold his own in the paint. You might even get the occasional pick-and-pop look out of him. According to Synergy, he graded out favorably as a spot-up shooter.
Where I think Gray could quietly make his biggest impact, though, is in transition. If Wisconsin’s looking to push the pace more, Gray’s the kind of forward who can beat his man down the floor and win some of those athlete-vs-athlete matchups. That’s where his versatility could really shine in short spurts.
All in all, it’s a rock-solid pickup that gives the Badgers a useful, plug-and-play bench piece for a frontcourt rotation that needed one.
This wasn’t a frontcourt that could afford to roll the dice with what they had. Wisconsin lost Steven Crowl and Gilmore to graduation. Xavier Amos hit the portal. Sure, Nolan Winter is back and expected to be a foundational piece moving forward, and the staff invested significant resources to land Portland transfer Austin Rapp. But outside of that? You're still banking on a few long-term projections. Lithuanian big man Aleksas Bieliauskas brings intriguing depth, and incoming freshman Will Garlock has some long-term upside as he battles with Riccardo Greppi for minutes, but those are future plays. Gray is about winning right now. He’s a “we need you on the floor today” kind of addition.
Gray joins a portal haul that already includes Andrew Rohde, Nick Boyd, Braeden Carrington, and Rapp—plus a freshman class with Hayden Jones, Garlock, and four-star combo guard Zach Kinziger set to join the fold.
Meanwhile, Winter, John Blackwell, Jack Janicki, Jack Robison, and Greppi headline the group of returning players. And with so much roster turnover this offseason, it’s no surprise Gard prioritized someone like Gray to help stabilize the rotation and round out the Badgers roster.
Will Gray start? Probably not. But can he give you 12-18 solid minutes a night in Big Ten conference play and more than hold his own? Absolutely. That alone makes this a smart business move and one that helps shore up one of the last big question marks on the roster. Wisconsin’s staff added a ton of experience this offseason, and Gray fits right into that mold.
The pickups of Gray and Carrington, in particular, give Wisconsin something it is going to need next season—reliable bench pieces who know their role, have proven they can contribute, and help prevent a major drop-off when the starters come off the floor. That’s huge. And if one of the younger guys pushes them for minutes? Even better. Because now they’ve got seasoned players in front of them to chase down.
Wisconsin’s roster for the 2025–26 season is now set. And while there’s still plenty to prove on the floor, the portal’s been pretty good to coach Gard and the Badgers. On paper, this staff has once again assembled a group that looks well-positioned to compete in the Big Ten and make it back to the NCAA Tournament.
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