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Wisconsin Basketball Red-White Scrimmage: Here’s What Stood Out

Here’s what stood out from the Wisconsin basketball red-white scrimmage.

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7 months ago

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Wisconsin Badgers basketball forward, Nolan Winter
Wisconsin Badgers during the Red/White Scrimmage, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023, in Madison, Wis. (Photo by David Stluka/Wisconsin Athletic Communications)

Wisconsin men’s basketball gave Badgers fans a sneak peek at the team ahead of the upcoming 2023-2024 season during its annual red-white scrimmage, held on a Sunday afternoon at The Kohl Center.

The white team defeated the red squad handily, 69-51.

BadgerNotes.com, accompanied by my beautiful wife and daughter, were on site and collectively had a few takeaways from the scrimmage.

Wisconsin Basketball Found Another Gem From Minnesota: Nolan Winter

On Sunday afternoon, true freshman forward Nolan Winter was arguably one of the scrimmage’s top performers. The Lakeville North standout showcased his talents with a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double in 26 plus minutes. He also chipped in two blocks and a steal.

Despite his lean frame at 6-foot-11 and 220 pounds, Winter showed toughness and willingness to battle while defending opposing bigs on the low block. His athleticism and overall fluidity also stood out — along with his ability to alter shots.

“He [Winter] showed some things that we’ve seen in practice,” Gard told reporters. “That’s why we recruited him as hard as we did. I think he’s getting more and more comfortable with the strength he’s gained.”

You don’t want to make too much of one performance — but Winter brought his A game and threw his hat firmly into the ring of Wisconsin basketball front-court players vying for minutes behind Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl.

It’s also worth noting that during player introductions, his walk-out song was “When it Rains, it Pours,” by Luke Combs — so consider me stock all the way up on Nolan Winter.

AJ Storr’s Game-Changing Abilities on Full Display

UW’s athletic void left by Johnny Davis departing for the NBA draft has been filled by St. John’s transfer portal addition AJ Storr. 

To say I was impressed would be an understatement. The 6-foot-7 sophomore is such an impressive athlete, and his ability to make plays in transition was on full display all afternoon.

A standout moment was when Kamari McGee swiped the ball from Connor Essegian and initiated a fast break. With a quick glance over his shoulder, McGee enticed his defender closer before delivering a pinpoint lob to Storr. With ease, Storr finished the play with an emphatic slam.

In total, Storr scored 15 points, converting 6 of his 13 field goal attempts, including two three-pointers, and secured two rebounds in 29 minutes.

“He [Storr] can make plays out of nothing, Gard said. “He can make plays out of his size and athleticism. He knows where the basket is.”

Regardless of his role for Greg Gard and the Wisconsin basketball team this season, Storr will be a core member of the Badgers rotation. Book it.

Other Wisconsin Badgers Musings

Kamari McGee, entering his second year in the program, displayed remarkable progress. His aggressive defense, marked by two steals and disruptive plays, significantly impacted the game.

I thought McGee also looked more comfortable on offense, chipping in six points and three assists. Wisconsin basketball has better depth at point guard this year, regardless of who handles the backup spot.

***

Carter Gilmore really stood out to me at local media day from a physical standpoint — so I was excited to see how it translated onto the court.

On Sunday, I got my first look and thought the former walk-on displayed a remarkable improvement on the offensive end. Gilmore had an impressive performance, making 4 out of 5 field goal attempts, finishing with nine points, five rebounds, two assists, and a blocked shot.

Notably, his shooting form appeared significantly more fluid and natural. If Gilmore can continue to improve his three-point shooting, he could become a more reliable asset for Wisconsin basketball off the bench this season.

***

It wasn’t a huge surprise overall, but outside of Nolan Winter, the other Wisconsin basketball freshmen looked … well, like freshmen.

Gus Yalden showed off some good footwork but finished the game with two points and three rebounds. John Blackwell finished with five points and two rebounds on 2-of-8 shooting from the field. Blackwell looked a little out of place/uncomfortable at times—nothing to report on Jack Janicki.

***

Tyler Wahl looked great — effortlessly scoring a game-high 16 points on an efficient 7-of-11 shooting. In general, all the starters looked solid.

***

Markus Ilver still loves to see himself shoot.

***

My final takeaway from the Wisconsin basketball red-white scrimmage was how much more comfortable the Badgers looked running their sets/initiating offense than in years past. I attend the event every year, and the game is typically a lot of defense & turnovers with a few moments here and there on offense.

Not this year.

I don’t know how to quantify it, but there is clearly more depth and talent on this year’s Wisconsin men’s basketball team — and they’re further ahead right now than we’d usually see at this point.

It could be because UW returned almost all of its production from a year ago. Whatever the case is, it’s a positive.

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Dillon Graff is a Substack Newsletter Best Selling Author 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, Bleacher Report, Verbal Commits, B5Q, Saturday Blitz, and Fansided.

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