Wisconsin Basketball: UW's lack of frontcourt depth could be Achilles' heel
Will the Wisconsin Badgers lack of frontcourt depth be the team's Achilles heel in 2022-23?
Madison, Wis. - Wisconsin Badgers head coach Gard returns frontcourt stalwarts Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl from last year's team, creating a solid foundation in the low-post to build around.
However, graduate transfer Chris Vogt is gone, as is Ben Carlson, who provided minutes off the bench—leaving some serious question marks regarding the depth of UW's frontcourt.
Last season, UW finished 3rd in the Big Ten in defensive rebounding percentage, according to KenPom, the highest finish of the Greg Gard era, thanks in large part to Johnny Davis being a freak of nature on the boards.
It is, however, worth noting that the Badgers lost three of their top four leaders in defensive rebounding percentage from last season's team (Davis, Vogt, and Carlson). Say what you want about Wisconsin's bench production in 2021-22, but Vogt and Carlson provided energy/helped immensely on the boards and will definitely be missed in that regard.
Plus, UW swung and missed in the transfer portal, searching for frontcourt reinforcements, leaving Wahl and inexperienced returning players like Carter Gilmore, Chris Hodges, and Markus Ilver to fill in the gaps behind Big Steve.