Ranking Wisconsin basketball’s transfer portal, offseason roster needs
Wisconsin basketball's 2025 offseason is officially underway after its season concluded in the NCAA Tournament round of 32 on Saturday.
The transfer portal is already open and will remain so until April 22. As is the case with football, players can enter until that final date, while those already in the portal have unlimited time to find a destination. Since Wisconsin doesn't have a Sweet 16 game to prepare for, its focus will quickly turn to reloading the roster entering 2025-26.
Head coach Greg Gard and his staff enter this offseason looking to replicate their terrific 2024 transfer cycle. After stars A.J. Storr and Chucky Hepburn departed, Wisconsin landed Missouri wing John Tonje, Northern Illinois forward Xavier Amos and Central Arkansas guard Camren Hunter. Tonje went on to have a First-Team All-Big Ten and Second-Team All-American, one of the best in program history. While Hunter failed to crack the rotation, Amos emerged as a key depth option at forward.
Wisconsin has similar needs entering 2025-26. The team lost starters Tonje, Max Klesmit and Steven Crowl, plus key depth pieces Kamari McGee and Carter Gilmore, to graduation after the 2024-25 campaign. While John Blackwell and Nolan Winter are back to lead the team as juniors, the Badgers have several key needs to address before rosters are finalized.
With the transfer cycle beginning to spin, here is a look at the team's biggest offseason needs, ranked in order of importance:
5. Bench guard depth
Wisconsin will enter next season with a roster full of promising young guards, including rising sophomore Daniel Freitag and incoming freshman Zach Kinziger. The team's need at backup/bench point guard won't exist if Freitag, a former top recruit, is ready to play a prominent role or if the team lands an impact starter and Jack Janicki fills the sixth-man role. This is a minor need, although the team can always use more players like Kamari McGee off the bench.
4. Bench forward depth
Wisconsin has a guaranteed need at bench forward -- the Carter Gilmore/Xavier Amos role. The program is thin at the position in the underclassman ranks. Sophomore center Riccardo Greppi and incoming freshman Will Garlock are the only two currently on the roster.
Assuming Amos steps into a larger role, Wisconsin will need an experienced bench player at the position. Ideally, the program can land a player like Amos, who was accomplished at a lower-level school, had years of eligibility left and didn't need to start immediately.
Wisconsin's bench was a major factor in its success this past season. The team needs to reload that depth in the portal, plus see significant improvements from inexperienced underclassmen.
3. Starting point guard
Wisconsin didn't have a true point guard this past season. The team's position-less lineup helped the offense operate, as Max Klesmit, John Blackwell, or John Tonje could all operate in the same role. That approach will likely hold entering 2025-26, barring a significant breakout from Freitag.
That makes a 'starting guard' more of a need than a dedicated 'starting point guard.' This addition would help the program build off its offensive progress from 2024-25 and push Jack Janicki to a sixth-man role, again helping to establish a strong bench unit
All of Wisconsin's portal needs follow a similar theme: how can the team establish dependable depth behind a potential star-powered starting lineup?
2. Scoring wing
Believe it or not, a John Tonje replacement should not be priority No. 1 on Wisconsin's transfer portal wish list. The team will have to replace his 19.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. But adding a superstar, ball-dominant wing to fill those numbers may be counter-productive.
That is because Tonje's departure opens the door for John Blackwell to be the team's undisputed No. 1 offensive option -- which he clearly has the capability to be. Wisconsin's back-court plan should be to surround Blackwell with shooters. In other words, to find players who can make an impact without needing the basketball.
Max Klesmit is a great example of what that player could look like. A starting backcourt with Blackwell and a Klesmit-like point guard and wing would make Wisconsin extremely challenging to defend. The team has its Tonje replacement in Blackwell -- it just needs to do an effective job crafting the supporting cast.
1. Starting forward/center
The frontcourt is Wisconsin's one major concern entering 2025-26. Nolan Winter could take another jump forward on both sides of the court, but the team would still be extremely thin at the position.
Current projections see Xavier Amos stepping into a starting role. While he is likely to see increased minutes and production, I'd argue the team is best served to find a Steven Crowl replacement in the portal, pair him with Winter in the starting lineup and bring Amos in off the bench.
Greg Gard will only likely add transfers who can stretch the floor and shoot -- more players like Crowl, compared to a Tyler Wahl. But if former Iowa center Owen Freeman is a realistic acquisition, despite his lack of shooting, Wisconsin should jump at that opportunity. The team's path to success in 2025-26 depends on it forming a strong frontcourt. The Badgers can't exit this transfer cycle without an impact addition at the position.
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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin basketball transfer portal needs 2025-26 lineup projection
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