NFL
By: Melo Williams
Wisconsin men’s basketball head coach Greg Gard announced his three newest Badgers after seniors Will Garlock, Hayden Jones and Zach Kinziger each signed their National Letter of Intent to attend the University of Wisconsin to further their academic and athletic careers.
WILL GARLOCK
7-0 | Center
Middleton, Wis. (Middleton HS)
Will Garlock, a 7-foot center from Middleton, Wisconsin, is a three-star prospect from Middleton High School.
According to 247 Sports, he is the No. 5 prospect in Wisconsin. In his junior season, Garlock averaged a team-leading 16.9 points per game, shooting an impressive 66.5 percent from the floor, including 31.2 percent from beyond the arc.
He also led the Cardinals in rebounding (8.5), while also averaging 2.4 assists per game and blocking 19 shots.
As a sophomore, he averaged 11.4 points per game with a 66.3 percent field goal percentage. Garlock’s performance earned him first-team all-Big Eight honors as a junior and honorable mention all-state in Division 1 by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association.
Gard on Garlock:
“We are happy to have Will joining our Badger family. Growing up as a hometown kid located in our backyard, wearing the Wisconsin jersey and being a part of this program means a lot to Will. He has a lot of potential and we see him fitting into our long line of successful big men here at Wisconsin.
Will has the size and the athleticism to compete at a high level, and he will fit right in with our style of play and with how the college game has evolved in recent years.
Coming off an injury last season, we are excited to watch Will continue to keep trending towards his immense potential. We look forward to seeing him continuously throughout the upcoming season before he joins us in the summer months ahead.
Our staff is eagerly waiting to start helping Will develop into a really good front line addition.”
HAYDEN JONES
6-7 | Guard
Nelson, New Zealand
Hayden Jones, a 6-foot-7 guard from New Zealand, has played for the Nelson Giants in the New Zealand NBL for the past two seasons.
Last season, he averaged 2.9 points and 1.3 assists per game. In February, at 17 years old, Jones debuted for the New Zealand men’s national team, becoming the fourth-youngest player to do so. He helped lead New Zealand to a fourth-place finish in the FIBA Under-17 World Cup, averaging 11.6 points and 2.7 assists per game, marking the highest finish by a New Zealand national team at a FIBA tournament since 2002.
Jones also served as team captain for New Zealand at the New Zealand Foot Locker U18 Nationals, earning MVP honors. Additionally, he registered 12.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game during New Zealand’s runner-up finish at the 2023 FIBA U16 Asian Championship in Qatar.
Hayden’s father, Phill Jones, was a teammate of current Wisconsin assistant Kirk Penney on the New Zealand national team.
Gard on Jones:
“We are excited about the addition of Hayden to our program. He has really grown in terms of his actual size, and at 6-foot-7 he is very versatile.
Hayden has developed himself into a player that can play point guard, plus the two and three positions. Defensively, he’s long and does an excellent job of guarding players and disrupting shots at the rim with his natural size and ability.
He’s also a great rebounder at his position. He has 20-plus rebound games at the guard position, which is really hard to do and shows that he has a nose for the ball. Hayden has a high basketball IQ and we are looking forward to him coming into our program and absorbing what we do here.
He comes from an athletic family, which includes his father, Phill, who was an elite shooter for the New Zealand senior national team and one of the leading scorers in the 2004 Olympics.
We are thrilled to have Hayden joining our program and we are eager to help him grow.”
ZACH KINZIGER
6-3 | Guard
De Pere, Wis. (De Pere HS)
Zach Kinziger, a four-star prospect from De Pere, Wisconsin, is a consensus top-150 recruit nationally and was recently ranked No. 68 in the ESPN Top 100.
According to 247 Sports, he is the No. 3 prospect in Wisconsin. The 6-foot-3 guard plays at De Pere High School.
As a junior last season, Kinziger averaged 19.9 points (49.9% FG, 42.5% 3FG), 5.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game, leading De Pere to a 26-2 record and an appearance in the sectional finals.
In June, he led De Pere High School to a 5-0 record at the WBY Tournament in Kaukauna, Wisconsin, earning All-Tournament honors.
As a freshman on varsity, Kinziger averaged 8.2 points per game (46.3% FG, 42.2% 3FG). He made a jump in his sophomore season, increasing his scoring to 15.4 points per game, shooting 56.3 percent from the field and 43 percent from beyond the arc.
In 2023, Kinziger and De Pere won the Division 1 state championship with a 30-0 record.
Gard on Kinziger:
“We are very excited to have Zach joining our program. Growing up in the state of Wisconsin, playing for this program is a dream for him.
While evaluating him, it did not take long for my staff and I to identify Zach for his shooting, competitive drive, basketball IQ, and the effort that he competes with on the defensive end.
Zach has been one of the best shooters in all of high school basketball, which will remind Wisconsin fans of many former Badgers that have helped our program sustain a high level of success.
As the son of a coach, Zach plays the game the right way, and he has earned everything that has come his way. Just as impressive is Zach’s preparation in the classroom and the hard work that he puts into academics.
We are excited for Zach to join our Badger Family and we can’t wait to begin working with him to help him reach his goals.”
The future of Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball looks very promising. The next few years will be a talented team with experience, height, athleticism, with elite shooters.
Coach Gard has said in the recent past the landscape of college basketball has changed and Wisconsin is trying to change with it while maintaining Wisconsin’s core culture principles.
