Wisconsin Basketball Building a Strong Early-Season Resume
Picked to finish 9th in the Big Ten, Wisconsin basketball is exceeding preseason expectations and building a solid early-season resume.
Madison, Wis. – Head coach Greg Gard and the Wisconsin basketball program had some mighty big shoes to fill entering the 2022-23 season. Johnny Davis declared for the NBA Draft, and ironman Brad Davison exhausted his eligibility. That alone was nearly half of UW's scoring from a team that won the Big Ten regular season title.Â
Then add in Chris Vogt graduating and Lorne Bowman, Ben Carlson, and Matthew Mors transferring, and you're left with plenty of unknowns.Â
Thankfully, UW returned starters Chucky Hepburn, Tyler Wahl, and Steven Crowl to build around. Coach Gard also brought in an instant-impact player in Max Klesmit, who filled a significant gap on the roster. Mix in a few players like Jordan Davis and Carter Gilmore, who took steps forward, and add a stud freshman like Connor Essegian, and you're back in business.Â
Early season success for Wisconsin basketball
The Wisconsin Badgers are off to an impressive 7-2 start to the season by doing what they do best – exceeding preseason expectations and doing more with less.
Picked to finish 9th in the Big Ten, Wisconsin basketball is putting together a decent early season resume. Thus far, UW has wins over Standford, Dayton, USC, Marquette, and No. 13 Maryland, all of which are in the KenPom top 100. Their only losses came at the hands of No. 3 Kansas at the buzzer in overtime at the Battle 4 Atlantis and Wake Forest in a one-possession game in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Not too shabby.
As we all know, the real test is yet to come - Big Ten play is no joke. However, there is no denying Greg Gard has done an excellent job navigating the early season schedule with this young group and also showing a willingness to adapt + mix/match rotations.
I always felt this would be an NCAA Tournament team; that's why I picked them to make the dance and finish in the top 4-6 of the Big Ten. But I feel even better about that decision based on what we've seen thus far. Barring significant injuries, UW will go dancing, but their resume looks better and better with each win against a quality opponent.
The Badgers are a top-25 team in the country right now, even if the media won't recognize them as such.
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