With only two returning starters from last year’s 22-14 squad, the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team begins their new 2024-25 season on Wednesday, October 30th, with an exhibition game against the UW-River Falls Falcons at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Wednesday will mark the 20th time a preseason game between an in-state WIAC opponent and the Badgers has occurred. In addition, the game is for a wonderful cause as it will be the 8th-annual Cancer Awareness Game for the Garding Against Cancer foundation, which was founded in 2016 by head coach Greg Gard and his wife, Michelle. As of May 2024, this charitable organization has raised upward of $8.5 million for cancer research in the state of Wisconsin.
THE WISCONSIN BADGERS AIM TO FIGURE OUT WHO THEY ARE
As with all teams in all sports at all levels, the beginning of each season kicks off with great hope and aspirations of greatness, but along with that come feelings of apprehension and uneasiness, the “not knowing” what to expect early on. How will this relatively-inexperienced group gel and how will they prepare for their rigorous Big Ten slate? That’s what the Wisconsin Badgers will seek to do: figure out who they are and what adjustments need to be made.
It will not be an easy road to navigate; UW is predicted by the media to finish in 12th place in the new 18-team Big Ten.
Huge questions exist concerning this year’s team.
WHO WILL START ALONG SIDE KLESMIT AND CROWL?
Wisconsin Badgers mainstays, Steven Crowl and Max Klesmit, have a very unique distinction not enjoyed by most major colleges: The duo from Wisconsin is one of four teams in the nation with multiple players with over 100 career starts, joined by Kansas, Kentucky and Nebraska. However, with the current climate of rampant player movement in college athletics, who will join them in the starting five?
The Badgers return four candidates from last year’s group and also took advantage of the transfer portal quite nicely in the off-season.
Leading those coming back with Big Ten experience is guard John Blackwell. The 6’4″ playmaker from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, garnered a spot on the conference’s All-Freshman team, a distinction that arose from being named Big Ten Freshman of the Week an astounding four times.
Additional veterans vying for big minutes in 2024 are seniors Kamari McGee , Markus Ilver, and Carter Gilmore, along with sophomore Nolan Winter. This group while seasoned will be raw; none of the four averaged over 10 minutes of playing time per game last season.
However, help arrived in Madison via the transfer portal in the form of experienced and decorated transplants. Three players shifted to the Wisconsin Badgers from Division I schools, and all three averaged in double figures for their former teams.
WISCONSIN BADGERS WILL HEAVILY RELY ON NEW FACES
Leading the way from the transfer portal will be junior forward Xavier Amos, who played at Northern Illinois last year and averaged 13.8 points per game. Along side Amos, junior Camren Hunter and graduate student John Tonje will call the Kohl Center home this season; although both Hunter and Tonje were medical redshirts last season, Hunter scored 16.9 points per game for Central Arkansas, and Tonje poured in 14.6 points per game for Colorado State.
All three will be in the mix for prime court time in 2024-25.
According to uwbadgers.com, new freshmen Jack Robison, Daniel Freitag, Aidan Konop, and Ricardo Greppi will vie for playing time under coach Greg Gard.
TIME WILL TELL, BUT THERE IS LITTLE TIME TO WASTE
A basketball season is characterized as a five-month marathon, not a sprint. However, when the Wisconsin Badgers take the floor on Wednesday against River Falls, they will take the first steps of that race but must be aware of the pace they are setting to determine the course of their season.