Wisconsin men’s basketball makes move on 2027 in-state class at advanced camp
Wisconsin men's basketball planted a flag in the 2027 class, offering three in-state standouts at the Badgers advanced camp.
The University of Wisconsin men's basketball program just planted a flag in the ground for the state’s 2027 class.
That’s the story coming out of Badgers advanced camp, where head coach Greg Gard and his staff made their intentions clear by making a trio of in-state scholarship offers. Jalen Brown, Jack Kohnen, and Deuce McDuffie all walked away from the Nicholas-Johnson Pavilion with opportunities to wear the cardinal & white and represent their home state.
And if you're paying attention, that says a lot about how Wisconsin views the next wave of homegrown talent—and just as importantly, their desire to invest in keeping top prospects around when possible to develop into cornerstone pieces. With the NCAA House settlement bringing some level of continuity back to college basketball, unfinished as it may be, it’s clear the Badgers are already thinking this direction makes some sense.
It also seems pretty clear that Gard and Kirk Penney feel good about where Wisconsin’s offense is headed. There’s a path here, one where you keep targeting high end in-state guys who fit your mold, continue exploring the international market that’s become quite transactional, and strategically pour resources into the transfer portal to land key pieces.
It’s a blueprint to get old and stay old each year, at least until contracts become fully enforceable. So let’s get into each of the offers because they all tell us something a little different about what this staff values and how they’re thinking about the future.
Jalen Brown, guard
Brown, a 6-foot-4 combo guard out of Wauwatosa West High School in Milwaukee, made the most of his opportunity at Wisconsin's advanced camp and walked away with an offer from the Badgers to show for it.
He’s currently ranked No. 87 nationally, No. 10 among combo guards, and the No. 3 player in Wisconsin for the class of 2027.
"After a great advanced camp and a great talk with Head Coach Greg Gard and Coach Sharif Chambliss, I am blessed to have received a D1 Offer from the University Of Wisconsin," Brown wrote.
Brown already holds high-major offers from West Virginia, Mississippi State, and Arizona State, as well as mid-major offers from Grambling State and Northern Illinois. But it’s his production that’s really starting to generate buzz. As a sophomore, he averaged 22.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 2.7 steals per game.