Wisconsin Men's Basketball Offseason Plagued by Cascading Failures
This offseason hasn't gone in the Badgers' favor ... whatsoever.
When taken in total, the events that have transpired since the Wisconsin basketball team exited March Madness with a whimper are about as close to the worst-case scenario as one could have envisioned.
After a 22-14 finish against one of the nation's toughest schedules that earned them a 5-seed in the Big Dance, a roster positioned to compete for a Big Ten title in 2024-25 has since been decimated.
Wisconsin basketball fans knew it was coming, but sophomore wing AJ Storr declared for the NBA Draft while maintaining eligibility. Days later, he entered the transfer portal and went to the highest bidder, Kansas.
It appeared as though the Badgers had a viable replacement option in Omaha forward Frankie Fidler. The 6-foot-7 junior was a high school teammate of Chucky Hepburn and averaged 20.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game. At one point, Wisconsin was considered the frontrunner in this recruitment until a visit to Michigan State compelled him to push back his commitment announcement.
Then came the gut punch Wisconsin basketball fans weren't expecting, as Hepburn entered the transfer portal despite his professed loyalty to the Badgers, presumably eyeing a lucrative opportunity elsewhere. That loss opened up a need for a point guard on coach Gard's shopping list while also taking them out of the Fidler sweepstakes. Fidler later announced that he would be joining Tom Izzo in East Lansing.
"We have a lot of love for Chucky," Gard said. "He's been a big part of our program. In today's college basketball, players are making transactional decisions all over the country at every level. ..."There's no time to complain about the system in place. We're dedicating all of our energy right now into finding the next fits for our program.
"In fact, minutes after talking to Chucky about this, I was already pursuing another talented point guard who is in the portal. This is the reality of college basketball today."