Wisconsin kicked off its 2025 transfer portal cycle with a commitment from Virginia guard Andrew Rohde on Thursday.
Rohde joins the Badgers for his final season of eligibility. The Brookfield, Wisconsin, native spent the last two seasons as a starter at Virginia. He delivered a strong season for the 2024-25 Cavaliers, starting 26 of 30 games and averaging 30.9 minutes, 9.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. That production included a 43.2% shooting clip from the floor and a terrific 41% from 3.
Rohde was a former in-state standout at Brookfield Central High School, averaging 28.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists as a senior. He then excelled as a freshman at St. Thomas in 2022-23, averaging 17.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. Those tallies earned him Summit League Freshman of the Year. Rohde then transferred to Virginia before the 2023-24 season.
The 6-foot-6 guard won't be the last of Wisconsin's transfer additions this offseason. The team has remaining needs at starting wing, starting forward and bench forward. But since his commitment is the team's first of the offseason, it requires some big-picture takeaways:
This counts as in-state recruiting
The fabric of college basketball continues to change with each passing season. Programs like Wisconsin, for example, have been forced to join the year-in, year-out transfer cycle. Of course, Greg Gard has excelled in the area, seen clearly in the program's addition of John Tonje last offseason.
With nearly 40% of the roster turning over every offseason, Rohde's commitment should become a new form of in-state recruiting. The Wisconsin native began his career at St. Thomas before transferring to Virginia. While the Badgers did not offer him coming out of high school, filling the roster with in-state transfers should accomplish the same culture-building objective. The program has had major recent success doing so. Max Klesmit (Neenah, Wisconsin) and Kamari McGee (Racine, Wisconsin) each joined the Badgers after years elsewhere -- Wofford and UW-Green Bay, respectively. Both were clear culture fits and drove the team's success over the last few seasons.
I'd look for Gard and his staff to prioritize in-state transfers as the years pass. The program is always at its best with those players leading the way.
