Wisconsin basketball signee Hayden Jones details first visit, fit in Greg Gard’s system

Wisconsin basketball 2025 signee Hayden Jones recaps his first recruiting visit to Madison and details his fit in the offense.

For Hayden Jones, a 6-foot-7 guard from New Zealand, his first official visit to Madison was a memorable experience—and one that he won’t soon forget.

Despite signing with the Wisconsin men’s basketball team as a member of the 2025 recruiting class sight unseen, the trip halfway across the globe offered Jones his first taste of life as a Badger, and he came away impressed.

Jones brings an impressive international résumé to Wisconsin, headlined by his debut as the fourth youngest player to ever suit up for the New Zealand men's national team. He's also spent time playing for the Nelson Giants—a pro basketball club in the New Zealand NBL and helped lead his country to a fourth-place finish in the FIBA Under-17 World Cup.

While on campus, Jones took in everything the basketball program had to offer during his visit. From campus tours to facilities and team interactions, the experience was everything he could have hoped for.

“We did a bunch of stuff with touring the city and campus. We also watched trainings and the game against Iowa,” Jones told Badgernotes.

“The facilities were amazing, like better than I’ve ever seen before.”

However, the highlight of his visit was witnessing Wisconsin’s historic offensive explosion against Iowa, where the Badgers set a Kohl Center record with 116 points and hit 21 three-pointers—a program best.

For Jones, the performance reaffirmed his belief that his skill set would translate well to the team’s unselfish style of play.

“The style of play that Wisconsin plays stood out to me. It’s really inclusive—not just one person doing all the work. It requires the whole team to chip in for it to work," Jones explained. “I’ve played in similar offenses to what they play and also shoot a lot of threes, which I like.”