2025 Wisconsin Basketball Transfer Portal

[yourout]

2 minutes ago, RedStickBrew said:

Guessing the staff told him they are bringing in some guards and he would have no playing guarantees 

He needs some time at a lower level.

[Jim French Stepstool]

2 hours ago, wildcat83 said:

Daniel Freitag entered the portal.  Was a big recruit but never found his way into consistent playing time.

I can't help but keep in mind that he was a football recruit as well. If he doesn't find something to his liking, you never know.

A highly regarded athlete that drew some attention, but looked incredibly lost in the few minutes he was on the floor. This could go so many ways. Even in his own backyard, Minnesota will probably have spots available. But IMO if he wants more of an assurance of PT he should look into St Thomas or maybe even UWGB. I wish him luck.

[RedStickBrew]

I like the looks of C Austin Rapp who is on an OV now per several reports. 6’10” Australian incoming Sophomore and shoots it from 3. He needs the UW S&C program and work with Steimsma to get a little more physical in the paint

[Jim French Stepstool]

Seems like Rapp & UW would be a fit. 35% from 3PT range (on high volume) & 81% from the FT line suggests a nice touch. Under 40% shooting overall is a contradictory # that might suggest a need for more muscle around the hoop as @RedStickBrewsuggested. 6.5 boards, 2.5 assists & 1.5 BPG make for a real well-rounded big. Freshman of the year in the WCC. 

One thing I particularly like is as a freshman he avg'd over 13 PPG and had only three games under 8 PTS. That's impressive consistency from a 1st-year guy.

Sounds like Kirk Penney is the lead guy on this, which makes sense.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

8 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I can't help but keep in mind that he was a football recruit as well. If he doesn't find something to his liking, you never know.

A highly regarded athlete that drew some attention, but looked incredibly lost in the few minutes he was on the floor. This could go so many ways. Even in his own backyard, Minnesota will probably have spots available. But IMO if he wants more of an assurance of PT he should look into St Thomas or maybe even UWGB. I wish him luck.

Saint Thomas is first-year tourney eligible after a favorable NCAA decision. Could be a draw. UWGB is....a mess? Putting it charitably? I don't think the Gottlieb hire has accomplished anything other than creating a moderate media draw. Maybe that was the sole point. Anyway, I'm with you. Good luck to Freitag, but I'm not sure even Saint Thomas would be interested. That's a really solid basketball program right now, in a decent league. The Horizon league seems like a better destination if he wants to make an impact.

You all are way more in tune with UW and the portal than I am. Is there a reason the focus is on Wisconsin guys? Is it because they want to market those players, or because they think local ties might make up for not being able to outspend others?

Losing Freeman hurts, but Creighton is kind of perfect for him. Kalkbrenner gone, No football program to compete for NIL resources. I really think the Big East is well-positioned basketball-wise . Been a little down the last two years (and still managed to produce the national champions both years and one of the best tournament streaks in history), but those schools have a lot of basketball cred to draw on and a really good TV situation. You could argue better than the B1G given all the Peacock inventory. I believe most of the full round-robin BEast games are on FS1 and FOX, with some CBSSN ones thrown in.

[Jim French Stepstool]

15 hours ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

Saint Thomas is first-year tourney eligible after a favorable NCAA decision. Could be a draw. UWGB is....a mess? Putting it charitably? I don't think the Gottlieb hire has accomplished anything other than creating a moderate media draw. Maybe that was the sole point. Anyway, I'm with you. Good luck to Freitag, but I'm not sure even Saint Thomas would be interested. That's a really solid basketball program right now, in a decent league. The Horizon league seems like a better destination if he wants to make an impact.

You all are way more in tune with UW and the portal than I am. Is there a reason the focus is on Wisconsin guys? Is it because they want to market those players, or because they think local ties might make up for not being able to outspend others?

Losing Freeman hurts, but Creighton is kind of perfect for him. Kalkbrenner gone, No football program to compete for NIL resources. I really think the Big East is well-positioned basketball-wise . Been a little down the last two years (and still managed to produce the national champions both years and one of the best tournament streaks in history), but those schools have a lot of basketball cred to draw on and a really good TV situation. You could argue better than the B1G given all the Peacock inventory. I believe most of the full round-robin BEast games are on FS1 and FOX, with some CBSSN ones thrown in.

I don't know about the rest of that league, but Creighton seems to have a fundraising apparatus in place that's second to none. They rake in a lot of donations, both for athletics & purely academic ventures. There were rumors awhile back about Warren Buffett funneling money into the school. He's an Omaha native but never attended Creighton so I have no idea (he IS reputed to be a big Nebraska FB fan).

It seems to me UW is pretty active in looking at both in-state kids that might help, and those with no ties. If it's an in-state guy then sure, the connection may help you get a commitment. But I feel they're being smart about it. For example, Andrew Rohde of UVA is from Brookfield Central HS and, after a lousy sophomore year actually had decent numbers last season. But while I may be proven wrong I don't think he's very high on their list of priorities.

Gottlieb was given a five-year deal. It's one thing to be a mid-major & lose your coach after a successful year or two, but to go out & hang an albatross around your neck like that...........ouch.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Earlier in the thread I mentioned Oscar Cluff of South Dakota State. He just committed to Purdue, which is actually a really good choice for him. Good post skills, and will be about as effective outside the paint as Edey was.

[RedStickBrew]

1 hour ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Andrew Rohde of UVA is from Brookfield Central HS and, after a lousy sophomore year actually had decent numbers last season. But while I may be proven wrong I don't think he's very high on their list of priorities.

Sounds like Rohde is down to ISU and UW. Also appears the interest in him is similar between the two schools. I watched a couple UVA games and Rohde is ok. Hard to assess how he would fit the UW offense. He also seems to be more of a catch and shoot player. I think he would be ok coming off the bench and providing some offense. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, RedStickBrew said:

Sounds like Rohde is down to ISU and UW. Also appears the interest in him is similar between the two schools. I watched a couple UVA games and Rohde is ok. Hard to assess how he would fit the UW offense. He also seems to be more of a catch and shoot player. I think he would be ok coming off the bench and providing some offense. 

He always seemed catch-and-shoot to me, too. That's why I found his final season at UVA so strange as he actually moved to PG & was OK. I've always wondered about his defense, but Tony Bennett was willing to spend a scholly on him so.........

IMO there are others that would be more impactful. We shall see.

[LouisEly]

3 hours ago, RedStickBrew said:

I think he would be ok coming off the bench and providing some offense. 

They could certainly use that.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

6 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I don't know about the rest of that league, but Creighton seems to have a fundraising apparatus in place that's second to none. They rake in a lot of donations, both for athletics & purely academic ventures. There were rumors awhile back about Warren Buffett funneling money into the school. He's an Omaha native but never attended Creighton so I have no idea (he IS reputed to be a big Nebraska FB fan).

It seems to me UW is pretty active in looking at both in-state kids that might help, and those with no ties. If it's an in-state guy then sure, the connection may help you get a commitment. But I feel they're being smart about it. For example, Andrew Rohde of UVA is from Brookfield Central HS and, after a lousy sophomore year actually had decent numbers last season. But while I may be proven wrong I don't think he's very high on their list of priorities.

Gottlieb was given a five-year deal. It's one thing to be a mid-major & lose your coach after a successful year or two, but to go out & hang an albatross around your neck like that...........ouch.

Creighton benefits a ton from being the big show in a big market. Omaha's MSA is basically the size of Buffalo, which supports not one but two professional franchises. Add in a pretty widespread Midwestern alumni network, and that's a ton of support. Plus, like you said, lot of money in Omaha.

I wish GB had things more together. Or Milwaukee. Both programs that never really figured it out after major coaching exits. Butler leaving seemed to basically tank the entire Horizon. I'm real sad about the decline of that league. Was never quite at the level of the Valley, but still produced a lot of good teams and players.

[Jim French Stepstool]

3 hours ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

 

I wish GB had things more together. Or Milwaukee. Both programs that never really figured it out after major coaching exits. Butler leaving seemed to basically tank the entire Horizon. I'm real sad about the decline of that league. Was never quite at the level of the Valley, but still produced a lot of good teams and players.

Losing not only Butler but Valpo, Loyola & UIC is a lot to overcome. If I'm UWM I'm embarrassed that a school like UIC could get into The Valley & they couldn't. But it's just not a place that puts the priority on D-1 basketball that some other places do. If they could've kept a triumvirate the level of Zimpher (chancellor), Bud Haidet (AD) & Bruce Pearl, or at least something resembling those three in level of talent & commitment, they had momentum about 20 yrs ago that they could've built off of. It's just not an athletics-friendly administration (the new chancellor, Thomas Gibson, is from UWSP & I know nothing about his relations/feelings toward athletics).

[Oxy]

Looks like UW is getting Nick Boyd, which would be outstanding.  Adding Rapp and Rohde would make for a formidable squad...or getting any two guys in their mold (a big and a big wing).

[RedStickBrew]

1 hour ago, Oxy said:

Looks like UW is getting Nick Boyd, which would be outstanding.  Adding Rapp and Rohde would make for a formidable squad...or getting any two guys in their mold (a big and a big wing).

Good addition IMO. Starting caliber guard. His shooting percentage should tick back up in UWs offense v the SDSU offense he was in last year. 

[homer]

Hodges leaving might be sneaky key as he was just taking up space on the bench. Might be able to bring in a contributor to replace him. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

I haven't seen anything that would clinch it for me, but yes there's a lot of smoke from more than one source that says Boyd is choosing UW. What helps me think this is actually happening is that Jonathan Powell, a guard from West Virginia, recently announced for UNC, UWs' main competition for Boyd.

Rohde seems to be in the same category. Lotsa smoke.

[Jim French Stepstool]

6 hours ago, Oxy said:

  Adding Rapp and Rohde would make for a formidable squad...or getting any two guys in their mold (a big and a big wing).

While I'm not totally sold on Rohde, I agree that him, Rapp & Boyd would be a nice trio to add.

Ricardo Greppi has just announced for the portal. I was hoping to actually see him stick around & develop, just like in the old days. But none of us see practice. Maybe his game outside of 15-17 ft is nonexistent, which wouldn't fit here. Maybe he's homesick. Maybe the midwest is too cold. Maybe he's disappointed that a breaded piece of chicken or veal w/tomato sauce is passed off as Italian food around here.

At any rate, best of luck to him & Chris Hodges.

[Oxy]

With the guys leaving there would/should be room for Johnny Kinziger--which would be awesome as long as he is in more of a supporting role than a needed role.  After starring at Illinois St. it might be tough to take a step back, but perhaps "playing" with his brother on a very good B1G team would be enticing enough to come to Madison.  Same with a guy like his teammate Dougherty.... neither are likely to be significant B1G contributors let alone starters, but could be great "program" guys and depth pieces.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, Oxy said:

With the guys leaving there would/should be room for Johnny Kinziger--which would be awesome as long as he is in more of a supporting role than a needed role.  After starring at Illinois St. it might be tough to take a step back, but perhaps "playing" with his brother on a very good B1G team would be enticing enough to come to Madison.  Same with a guy like his teammate Dougherty.... neither are likely to be significant B1G contributors let alone starters, but could be great "program" guys and depth pieces.

I agree. In the right role Johnny Kinziger would be a nice addition. But the latest I heard is that the portal rumors have quieted down & he may very well stay at ISU. Pure speculation, but could he have talked to UW, been told what his role would be with them, and it didn't interest him? 

I'm not sure how well Daugherty would guard the post in the Big Ten. The kid sure can shoot though.

UPDATE: Johnny Kinziger has just decided to stay put at Illinois State.

[RedStickBrew]

If the rumors are true that Boyd and Rohde are committing I can envision a team being constructed that is very similar to that 2021 Baylor NC team. That team had three guards that could handle the point, a stretch big and a couple physical post players. 

We would only be a couple physical post players away from a less talented version of that squad IMO. Not easy to get those guys and they aren’t cheap but I would be thrilled if that came together 

[areacodes]

19 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Ricardo Greppi has just announced for the portal.

Nothing official on this one yet… maybe he sticks around?  

I think that it would be nice to not have to replace another front court depth piece.  It is going to be difficult to replace the end of the bench with quality depth from the portal since not many players are entering the portal to be an end of the bench player at a high major.

[Jim French Stepstool]

50 minutes ago, areacodes said:

Nothing official on this one yet… maybe he sticks around?  

I think that it would be nice to not have to replace another front court depth piece.  It is going to be difficult to replace the end of the bench with quality depth from the portal since not many players are entering the portal to be an end of the bench player at a high major.

You're right. No official announcement (at least not yet). Of course, he could enter & still come back to UW. His leaving doesn't make much sense to me unless he's really unhappy living in Madison or has come to the conclusion that he doesn't think he can play at a high major level (or the staff feels that way & has made that known to him).

End-of-bench guys can usually be replaced with walkons that are dedicated & fundamentally sound enough to run scout team stuff. The one exception is finding a walkon with true post-player size----that's rare. So yeah, it might be a slight issue if you lose BOTH Hodges & Greppi.

[Jim French Stepstool]

AJ Storr of Kansas has decided to enter the transfer portal.

In other breaking news, botanists have discovered that trees are made out of wood.

[areacodes]

Rohde has committed to UW.

[CheezWizHed]

7 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

AJ Storr of Kansas has decided to enter the transfer portal.

In other breaking news, botanists have discovered that trees are made out of wood.

And since he played for 4 HS teams, that makes 8 teams in 8 years. 😬