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Wisconsin Basketball Receives Commitment From 4-Star, Top-100 PG Daniel Freitag

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Photo Credit: Dillon Graff

Madison, Wis. — Greg Gard and the Wisconsin basketball coaching staff only offered one point guard in the 2024 recruiting class (Daniel Freitag), and thankfully they never had to cast a wider net because the Badgers landed their top target.

Freitag, a four-star point guard and dual-sport athlete out of Bloomington, Minnesota, announced his commitment to the University of Wisconsin on Friday over a final five that also included Minnesota, Baylor, Notre Dame, and Virginia.

Per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite rankings, Freitag is the No. 71 overall player in the 2024 recruiting class and the No. 9 PG in the country, making him the fifth-highest-rated prospect in school history.

“The Wisconsin staff has always been great to me; Coach Gard and I are very close,” Freitag told BadgerNotes. “I am also very close to Coach Krabbenhoft and the other UW assistants.”

The Skinny

Wisconsin basketball was the first Power 5 program to offer Daniel Freitag a scholarship after their advanced camp in June 2021, well before he blew up, which is something he didn’t take lightly. The Badgers also reinforced his being a top priority by never offering another player at his position.

Additionally, Coach Gard never took his foot off the gas pedal. He stayed in contact with Freitag far more consistently than other schools throughout the process and even had Freitag on campus six total times. 

Because of their efforts, Wisconsin has its point guard of the future in the fold, where the proverbial keys to the car will be waiting after learning and developing behind Chucky Hepburn for one season. 

“He [Coach Gard] sees me making an impact for the team immediately and believes I can lead the team at the guard position. He has a lot of trust in me, and I like that.”

What Daniel Freitag Brings to the Wisconsin Basketball Program 

Daniel Freitag, the highest-rated backcourt recruit of the Greg Gard era, is everything you could want from a lead guard.

As a junior, the 6-foot-2, 175-pound guard averaged 28.8 points per game for Bloomington Jefferson High School en route to being named first-team All-Metro by the Star Tribune.

The Howard Pulley standout has good size for the position, well-above-average athleticism, playmaking ability, and toughness. Freitag also plays with great confidence, can get downhill and finish at the basket, make plays above the rim, and shoots well from beyond the arc.

In short, he’s the total package and a cold-blooded killer the Wisconsin basketball program can build around.

Final Thoughts on Greg Gard, Wisconsin Basketball Program 

In my opinion, this is the biggest recruiting win of the Greg Gard era, or at least on the same level as keeping Johnny Davis home.

Coach Gard has shown a willingness to adapt and pick up the pace when the roster warrants it, as evidenced by the Badgers finishing No. 215 in adjusted tempo, according to KenPom, during the 2021-22 season when Wisconsin won the Big Ten regular season title. I wouldn’t be shocked to see UW modify its approach to accentuate the strengths of its personnel moving forward. I cannot stress enough how big of a recruiting win this is for the program.

Freitag joins three-star forward Jack Robison from Lakeville North High School in Minnesota as the second verbal commit in the 2024 recruiting class.


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Dillon Graff is a Substack newsletter best-selling author, publisher of AllBadgers, and the owner of BadgerNotes.com, your go-to source for in-depth coverage of the Wisconsin Badgers. His work has been featured in top media publications like USA Today's BadgersWire, Athlon Sports, Bleacher Report, Verbal Commits, Bucky's 5th Quarter, and FanSided.

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