CBB Rank 2025: No. 23, Wisconsin Basketball

Points are hard to come by for the Badgers on the gridiron, but Wisconsin basketball is coming off a record-breaking offensive season, and they look to replicate that in 2025-26.

The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Wisconsin basketball.

While Greg Gard’s Badgers have been known as a defense-first program, last season featured a major surge on the offensive end. They finished 16th nationally with a 14.0 turnover rate, 57th with a 53.8% effective field goal percentage, and first with an 82.6% free throw percentage, amounting to the 13th-ranked overall offensive team, per Torvik.

John Tonje, who is now on a two-way contract with the Utah Jazz, was the primary reason for this sudden stylistic change. However, Gard brings back a few key returners, complemented by strategically chosen transfers that can keep the offense humming.

Wisconsin’s backcourt of Nick Boyd and John Blackwell will be their safety net. Meanwhile, Austin Rapp and Nolan Winter are capable frontcourt pieces on both ends. Andrew Rohde has high potential as that final x-factor piece (more on that later). Wisconsin’s bench is not filled with vast experience or past production, and that is what is ultimately keeping them from eclipsing the top 20 as we speak.

Overall, the Badgers are a sure fire tournament team and a confident pick to be wearing their home whites come the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Head coach: Greg Gard (11th season overall, all at Wisconsin)

2024-25 record: 27-10 (13-7)

2025 postseason finish: Lost to BYU (91-89) in second round of NCAA Tournament

Notable departures: 

• John Tonje (19.6 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.8 APG, 38.8 3P%)
• Steven Crowl (9.9 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.4 APG, 53.9 FG%, 41.6 3P%)
• Max Klsemit (9.2 PPG, 2.7 APG, 2.4 RPG)
• Kamari McGee (6.5 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 1.8 APG, 45.9 3P%)
• Carter Gilmore (3.9 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 1.3 APG)
• Xavier Amos (3.5 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 0.4 APG)

Notable non-conference games: 

• at BYU (Nov. 21)
• vs. Providence (Nov. 27) – Rady Children’s Invitational
• vs. Florida OR TCU (Nov. 28) – Rady Children’s Invitational
• vs. Marquette (Dec. 6)
• vs. Villanova (Dec. 19) – Milwaukee, WI

Projected Rotation

PG: Nick Boyd (6-3, 70, Gr.-Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 13.4 PPG, 3.9 APG, 3.9 RPG, 1.0 SPG (San Diego State)

SG: John Blackwell (6-4, 194, Jr.)

2024-25 stats: 15.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.2 APG

SF: Andrew Rohde (6-6, 185, Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 9.3 PPG, 4.3 APG, 2.9 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 41.3 3P% (Virginia)

PF: Austin Rapp (6-10, 230, So.)

2024-25 stats: 13.8 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.5 BPG (Portland)

C: Nolan Winter (6-11, 220, Jr.)

2024-25 stats: 9.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.1 APG, 56.4 FG%

6: Jack Janicki (6-5, 190, So.)

2024-25 stats: 1.9 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 0.8 APG

7: Elijah Gray (6-8, 220, Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 9.0 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 0.6 APG (Temple)

8: Zach Kinziger (6-3, 185, Fr.)

247Sports Composite #108-ranked recruit

9: Braeden Carrington (6-4, 195, Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 7.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.1 SPG (Tulsa)

10: Hayden Jones (6-6, 198, Fr.)

247Sports Composite #146-ranked recruit

11: Aleksas Bieliauskas (6-10, 235, Fr.)

International recruit from Lithuania

Wisconsin basketball team MVP: John Blackwell

Blackwell was the sidepiece to the aforementioned Tonje last season, but he will fully be the guy in the offense now.

The 6-4, 194-pound junior has a strong ability to score in transition at the rim and win one-on-one matchups in the halfcourt. While getting to the charity stripe is not an integral part of Blackwell’s game in the same way that it was for Tonje, he was extremely opportunistic when he did. Blackwell shot above 80% on free throws in each of his first two seasons with a free throw rate of 39.2, which is slightly above the D1 average for a guard.

The last step for Blackwell to elevate his draft stock, particularly as a somewhat smaller shooting guard by NBA standards, is improving his touch. His 2024-25 shooting splits paint a clear picture — 61.0% from around the rim, 38.8% on longer twos, and 32.2% from beyond the arc. While the pull-up mid-range does not need to be a major part of Blackwell’s shot diet, his bag can certainly benefit from a better floater.

As far as three-point shooting is concerned, the overall number does not look great, but it is clear that Blackwell has the capability to improve it. Last season, he would let it fly if he was feeling it, which was made evident by 6-10 night from deep versus Iowa, and multiple other nights with four made triples. Gard had the fortune of giving him the red light if it was not one of those nights. More consistency will be needed for Blackwell.

Wisconsin basketball make-or-break player: Andrew Rohde

After a great year at St. Thomas, one that warranted Summit League Rookie of the Year honors, Rohde was rather abysmal for a season and change at Virginia. One broadcaster referred to the 6-foot-6 wing guard as a “turnover waiting for a stat sheet.”

Then, the calendar flipped to 2025, and a switch flipped for Rohde. For a stretch of 17 games in conference play, he racked up 72 assists, compared to just 10 turnovers (7.2 A/TO ratio). Rohde also became a knock-down three-point shooter, going from 25.7% as a sophomore to 40.1% as a junior, both on about 3.5 attempts per game.

Rohde has the potential to be awesome, and the potential to be dreadful; let’s see what version Gard unlocks in Madison.

Key analytic: Adjusted tempo

Adjusted tempo is measured by Torvik as an estimation of the average number of possessions that will occur in a game involving a given team.

Greg Gard had the Badgers finishing sub-300th nationally in tempo in eight of his first nine seasons. All of a sudden, that number surged to 151st of 364 last year.

Evaluating Wisconsin’s transfer guards, Rohde played for a snail-paced UVA team, Nick Boyd comes from a San Diego State system that is also known for being methodical, and Braden Carrington’s Tulsa was not exactly fast either.

Therefore, we should a little bit of regression simply due to the personnel. That said, I would not be surprised if Gard feels that he has unlocked something and stays out of the D1 basement in tempo for the rest of his tenure. At the end of the day, good coaches like him are malleable with their style.

Wisconsin basketball 2025-26 projections

Projected conference finish: 6th in the Big Ten

Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 exit