Carter Gilmore pens an emotional goodbye to Wisconsin basketball; John Blackwell says Badgers will 'bounce back'
Carter Gilmore lived out his dream for five years on the Wisconsin basketball team.
While it ended Saturday night when Wisconsin lost to BYU in the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Hartland native is "damn proud" to be called a Badger.
The fan favorite and popular teammate took to Instagram to pen a heartfelt goodbye to Wisconsin basketball late Sunday night, thanking God, his family, the university, his coaches, teammates, fans and even the doubters.
Gilmore accompanied the post with a series of photos to represent his time with the Badgers, including on Senior Day with his parents and head coach Greg Gard, and an image of fans at the Kohl Center who had his last name spelled across their chests.
The Arrowhead High School graduate addressed the fans in his post: "You are the reason why I play. All I ever wanted to do was make you guys proud, and to inspire others to follow their dream."
To his teammates, he wrote in part, "ALL LOVE. ... We made memories that will last a lifetime, on and off the court."
Those teammates gave him love right back in the post.
Former Wisconsin star Johnny Davis, who played with Gilmore for two years, wrote “since day 1 Gilly." Tyler Wahl, who played with Gilmore for four years, wrote: "My favorite player.” Connor Essegian, who played two seasons with Gilmore before transferring to Nebraska after last season, added: “Love you Gil.”
Teammates from this past season showed their appreciation to Gilmore as well. All-American guard John Tonje wrote: “Legendary," John Blackwell added: "Love you 7! Thank you for everything." And Kamari McGee wrote: "love my boy."
Carter Gilmore highlights: Wisconsin basketball senior provided special moments during senior season
Gilmore gave Wisconsin fans and teammates some legendary moments in his final year wearing a Badger uniform.
Gilmore, a reserve forward his entire career at Wisconsin, had the game of his life when he sparked a second-half rally in the Badgers' 75-69 win over Northwestern on the road Feb. 1. With the Badgers trailing by eight early in the second half, Gilmore scored eight of the team's next 10 points to tie the game in less than two minutes. He had two three-pointers on back-to-back possessions during this stretch. Gilmore finished with a career-high 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, three three-pointers and seven rebounds in 24 minutes. It was the first game of his UW career scoring in double figures.
And he did it again the very next game three days later when he scored 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting, in which he made all three of his three-pointers, in the Badgers’ 76-64 victory over Indiana.
Gilmore came up big late in the season as well. His running blocked shot on Michigan State's Tre Holloman's three-pointer at the top of the key with eight seconds left and the Badgers clinging to a three-point lead helped seal the 77-74 win over top-seeded Spartans in the semifinals of the Big Ten conference tournament. He also made several big buckets in the game to finish with 10 points.
On Saturday night, despite the Badgers' loss, Gilmore was impactful in giving Wisconsin a chance to win. With the Badgers down by two points and needing a stop, Gilmore forced BYU's Dallin Hall into a difficult shot and then tracked down the rebound and had the smarts to call a timeout while on the ground with 13 seconds left in the game.
Minutes earlier, he had a key three-point play during Wisconsin’s furious comeback after first rebounding Blackwell's missed layup and then his own while being fouled amid several BYU defenders.
"Onto the next chapter," Gilmore ended his post.
John Blackwell says Wisconsin basketball will 'bounce back'
John Blackwell's story continues.
"My brothers 4L!" Blackwell, a sophomore, wrote on Twitter late Saturday night after the Badgers' March Madness run ended. "Wouldn't want to go to war with anyone else! Appreciate the upperclassmen for everything. We going to bounce back!"
Like Gilmore, he rose to the occasion this season. His breakout season was one of the top storylines of the year for the Badgers and why Wisconsin (27-10) exceeded outside expectations.
My brothas 4L! Wouldn’t want to go to war with anyone else! Appreciate the upperclassmen for everything ❤️❤️ We going to bounce back!🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/c7ZdYmDipA
— John Blackwell (@_Johnblackwell1) March 23, 2025
As a freshman in 2023-24, Blackwell was a reserve, backing up the guard position of AJ Storr and Chucky Hepburn. With both leaving in the transfer portal, Blackwell took his game to a new level in 2024-25. He nearly doubled his scoring output from last season as his playing time significantly increased.
Blackwell, who earned honorable mention all-Big Ten, was also a shining star in the Badgers' two NCAA tournament games. A year after scoring just four points in Wisconsin's opening round loss to James Madison and not making a shot, Blackwell had a game-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting in the Badgers' Round 1 win over Montana last week. He then added 21 on 6-of-14 shooting in the loss to BYU in a team-high 38 minutes.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin basketball's Carter Gilmore pens emotional farewell
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