Wisconsin Men’s Basketball Team Has Depth

By: Melo Williams 

The Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team is coming off a 20-15 season that ended with a run to the National Invitation Tournament losing to North Texas in the semifinal, and will open the 2023-2024 season just outside of the AP Top 25 at No. 26 in the men’s college basketball preseason rankings.

The Badgers received 53 points in the preseason AP rankings, the highest amount of votes for a team outside of the preseason poll.

Wisconsin is picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten men’s basketball preseason rankings this season.

Wisconsin men’s basketball team showed some great things during the annual Red-White Scrimmage game with Team White defeating Team Red 69-51.

The core part of the 2023-24 Wisconsin Badgers roster remains intact returning all of its starters from last season, adding St John’s transfer A.J. Storr as well as freshmen Gus Yalden, John Blackwell, and Nolan Winter, who all could expect to find playing time this season.

A few impressive players were Tyler Wahl, A.J. Storr, Max Klesmit, Kamari McGee, and Nolan Winter.

A.J. Storr was very impressive throughout the scrimmage showing the versatility in his game being a three-level scorer. His athleticism separates him from his teammates. Storr showed confidence shooting the three knocking down two.

A.J. could potentially be the one big difference of a player who showed he could be a wing player and scorer like former Badgers all-time great Michael Finley was for Wisconsin.

“He can make plays out of nothing,” head coach Greg Gard said of Storr. “He can get to places with his size and athleticism.”

A former four-star prospect from Rockford, Ill., who was rated the No.115 player in the country when he committed to St. John’s, Storr averaged 8.8 points and 1.9 rebounds in his true freshman season at St. John’s, shooting 43.4 percent from the floor, 40.4 percent from three-point range (38-for-94), and 75.0 percent (42-for-56) from the free-throw line. Storr was inserted into the starting lineup for the final 17 games, averaged 11.8 points, reached double figures 11 times, and made the Big East’s All-Freshman Team.

Storr delivered the biggest highlights with a couple of rim-rattling dunks in the opening minutes of the annual Red-White Scrimmage.

Nolan Winter, the Badgers freshman forward scored 13 points and collected 12 rebounds and 2 blocks in an impressive all-around impactful game.

He made five of his eight shots from the floor, including 2-for-4 shooting from 3-point range.

Winter was impressive and could be a big-time contributor for Greg Gard as his career goes on.

The 6-foot-11 forward ranked as the No. 2 recruit in the state of Minnesota, according to 247 Sports. Winter played basketball at Lakeville North, the same high school program that current senior forward Tyler Wahl and former forward Nate Reuvers attended. The 6-foot-10 senior forward averaged 23.4 points and 11.6 rebounds per game while shooting 64.1 percent from the field and led the Panthers to a 28-4 record and the Class AAAA state semifinals.

Greg Gard on Nolan Winter…”Nolan is an excellent addition to our program. He has pushed himself both on the court and as a student in the classroom, making him well prepared to have success here at Wisconsin.”

Winter has an extremely high basketball IQ and a versatile skillset that allows him to be effective in the post, off the dribble, and a deadly shooter from the perimeter.

Max Klesmit stood out with his three-point shooting and defense. Klesmit finished with 13 points, shooting 3-4 from the three. He got after it on the defensive end applying pressure with his good on-ball defense setting the tone.

The Badgers have significantly more depth which has cultivated an atmosphere of competitive competition & intensity at practice.

“I’ve said all along I like this team because of the depth,” Gard said. “We’ve got some younger guys that are challenging older guys for minutes.

“I think everybody understands you can’t be complacent. You better perform every day, because we’ve got a lot of options that can come in and help this team.”
“I haven’t named any starters yet; it’s open season on minutes,” Greg Gard said.

He shared that he keeps a private list of observations and evaluations from each day, and this list sees daily changes as players vie for playing time.

“We’ve got competition in practice at all positions, and when you have that competition around you, you can’t get complacent, or somebody is going to pass you…and they embrace it,” Gard told reporters.

Experience and depth will be important for Wisconsin this season with the number of games versus ranked teams and for competing in the strong Big Ten conference.

Last season, the Badgers faced three ranked teams the entire season. This year, Wisconsin will play four ranked teams in the first 10 games with 3 of the 4 ranked in the top 10.

• Nov. 10 vs #9 Tennessee
• Dec. 2 vs #5 Marquette
• Dec. 5 at #4 Michigan State
• Dec. 9 at #12 Arizona

The Badgers will play in a secret scrimmage against Northern Iowa that will take place next Saturday before playing in an exhibition matchup against UW-Stevens Point.

Wisconsin Badgers officially tip off their season against Arkansas State on November 6.

Other News:
Steven Crowl, Max Klesmit, and Carter Gilmore are listed as juniors again this season. The three intend to use their extra year of eligibility from the COVID-19-impacted season and play again next season.

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