Wisconsin Basketball Off-season Stuff

[Jim French Stepstool]

Thought I'd give some updates regarding the UW basketball program at the conclusion of their annual individual & team camp.

Three class of '27 athletes were offered during/after the camp. Jack Kohnen (Slinger) is a 6'6" wing who has shown offensive chops, but also averaged over 12 rebounds a game as a sophomore. He's already received offers from Iowa & Iowa State & save for an early commitment I'm sure there will be more to come.

Jalen Brown (Tosa West) is a 6'4" combo guard who opened a lot of eyes in the state tourney. Ranked a 3-4 star depending on who you follow, same as Kohnen. He's someone else who should add offers unless he commits early.

Deuce McDuffie (Milwaukee King) is a little more under the radar but seems to be drawing attention quickly. 6'6", somewhat raw but with athleticism on both ends of the floor. Scored 42 pts in one game last season. I'm surprised he was offered so early, but you gotta trust this staff. His pop Otto played at UW & UWM.

A couple other '27 campers are going to be national recruits & have held offers for a long time. Donovan Davis (Freedom) is listed at 6'7" & can probably play anywhere 1 through 4. Dooney Johnson (Milwaukee Juneau) is listed as 6'5" or 6'6". Both of these guys have no trouble putting the ball in the basket but what sets them apart is their ability & willingness to defend at a high level--especially Johnson, who I understand locked up some very talented kids over the weekend. I expect both of them to have blueblood offers & would be thrilled to get one of the two.

So far they haven't offered him but the staff has shown an interest in Zavier Zens, a 6'7" forward from Wisconsin Lutheran. He holds some mid-major offers & may still be a fallback option depending on if other UW offers go elsewhere & he decides to slow-play the process.

Vaughn Karvala (Oregon, WI HS) has left the state in favor of a prep school in Arizona. He's held an offer for quite some time but I get the inkling that there's some questions about his overall attention to some of the secondary aspects, particularly defense & overall strength. Still, a very electrifying talent.

Also, UW has added a late portal addition. Elijah Gray is a 6'8", 235 LB forward who mostly came off the bench the last three years for Fordham & Temple. He averaged between 8-9 PPG in that role over the last two years, scoring mostly from the paint area. Only a 30% shooter from 3PT, but a decent FT shooter. He's supposed to be a so-so defender in the paint but sometimes makes plays by relying on athleticism (sounds a little like Xavier Amos). If he can acclimate to the B10 level he'll certainly be a welcome addition as right now the only other backup 'bigs' are Riccardo Greppi & incoming freshman Will Garlock.

One other note: The NCAA has allowed schools to add a 32nd game to their schedules, and UW has responded by adding a December 30th home matchup with UWM. It'll be the first game between the schools since 2019. 

[RedStickBrew]

The '27 in-state class is stacked.  Glad to see all those offers going out.  Hopefully they will be able to land a couple of them.

[LouisEly]

Hopefully it isn't a repeat of the 2018 class.  They got an early commitment from Herro and prioritized Joey Hauser over Haliburton because Haliburton and Herro played basically the same position.  Then Herro decommits during his senior year, leaving no time to build a relationship with Haliburton and they get none of the three.

With the transfer portal now it's a lot less risky to bring in multiple players at the same position and short another position as it is a lot easier to get players at other positions of need even if just for a year (as well as kick a player to NIL if they get too many scholarship players).

[RedStickBrew]

Gray is official.  Looks like a physical post player.  Sounds like he can step out and shoot a little as well.  Pretty good addition at this point in the summer.

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

3 hours ago, RedStickBrew said:

  Pretty good addition at this point in the summer.

Yeah, it really seems to be. A lot of fans don't realize how many portal guys wind up not finding a home. So this late in the process, if you can find someone that you think might be able to help you can take a flyer w/little to no NIL money. Hopefully Gray slipping through the cracks works out well. They certainly could use a little experience off the bench in the frontcourt.

The thing I like about both Gray & Braeden Carrington is they both (I would assume) know there's a very high probability they're coming off the bench, yet they still committed. If they buy into their roles the way McGee & Gilmore did that's some nice experience to be able to call on.

[Jim French Stepstool]

On 6/30/2025 at 6:49 PM, LouisEly said:

Hopefully it isn't a repeat of the 2018 class.  They got an early commitment from Herro and prioritized Joey Hauser over Haliburton because Haliburton and Herro played basically the same position.  Then Herro decommits during his senior year, leaving no time to build a relationship with Haliburton and they get none of the three.

With the transfer portal now it's a lot less risky to bring in multiple players at the same position and short another position as it is a lot easier to get players at other positions of need even if just for a year (as well as kick a player to NIL if they get too many scholarship players).

Agree. If you're lucky enough to hit gold on the recruiting trail & there's some redundancy, the ease of players bouncing from school to school allows a roster to sort itself out more organically than in the past. Also Gard seems to have developed a knack for putting an effective group on the floor with a more "positionless" look.

In 2018 that was sort of a perfect storm, in the negative sense. What exacerbated it was Haliburton turning out to be better than most expected. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

So the team will be playing twice in the Fiserv in Milwaukee this upcoming season, even though the two D-1 schools in the city both come to Madison. On 12/19 they play Villanova. This is one of many neutral site (or semi-neutral) games that third-party promoters have been creating in recent years, and there will probably be more in the future. Easier to create attractive matchups when you don't have to go into a teams' home arena, and I'm sure the guarantees are pretty damn lucrative. UW has a similar game in November when they play BYU, not on their home floor but in Salt Lake City. It's expected the Cougars will come to Milwaukee the following season.

The other Milwaukee game, if you can call it that, is an exhibition--not a non-conference game, an exhibition--On October 24 vs Oklahoma. Teams have played these so-called 'secret scrimmages' for years. It was just a matter of time before promoters stuck the cash IV into these, too---sell it to TV if you can, print tickets, hold it in an NBA arena. And from what I heard second-hand, the courtside seats are around $300 with many of the others going in the 50-$100 range. For a glorified scrimmage. No thanks.

[RedStickBrew]

Bieliasukas has been a monster on the boards for Lithuania in the Fiba tournament.  Probably been their best player

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

On 7/13/2025 at 12:25 PM, RedStickBrew said:

Bieliasukas has been a monster on the boards for Lithuania in the Fiba tournament.  Probably been their best player

 

Thanks for the update!! I neglected to mention Bielauskas in my initial post. From what I've heard he doesn't have the physical maturity to play inside in the B10 quite yet, but has a very high motor and like you said really attacks the boards. My guess is Garlock & Greppi will both be in front of him for minutes this year, but we'll see.

It sounds like Hayden Jones was very impressive in the FIBA U-19 tourney.

[RedStickBrew]

9 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Thanks for the update!! I neglected to mention Bielauskas in my initial post. From what I've heard he doesn't have the physical maturity to play inside in the B10 quite yet, but has a very high motor and like you said really attacks the boards. My guess is Garlock & Greppi will both be in front of him for minutes this year, but we'll see.

It sounds like Hayden Jones was very impressive in the FIBA U-19 tourney.

Bieliauskas looked bigger, stronger and more athletic than I was led to believe.  I don't think physicality will be an issue for him.  He needs to work on his low post offense, hands, etc.  He has a nice stroke from 3.  Given the depth and experience of the upcoming team I doubt he will factor in much but could be a nice fit in the future.  

[Jim French Stepstool]

Zavier Zens, the forward from Wisco mentioned above, committed to Northern Iowa. A solid mid-major program & probably a good fit for him.

@RedStickBrew, your relative optimism re Bieliauskas looks to have some traction. He turned in a real nice FIBA tourney in Europe, with a couple double-doubles & averaging btwn 12-13 PPG with a bit over 8 RPG. Austin Rapp definitely has the inside track to start alongside Nolan Winter but it's shaping up to be an interesting battle between Bieliauskas, Garlock & Gray for bench minutes.

[homer]

Kirk Penney has resigned from the coaching staff to spend more time with his family in New Zealand. Badgers have hired former UW guard Brad Davison to replace him. 

[yourout]

20 minutes ago, homer said:

Kirk Penney has resigned from the coaching staff to spend more time with his family in New Zealand. Badgers have hired former UW guard Brad Davison to replace him. 

Huge loss....

[Jim French Stepstool]

It IS a big loss. He & the missus have four kids & I believe they're all relatively young. I also recall reading that he has business interests in NZ, so perhaps coaching in the US was never in the cards for him long-term. Along with what he contributed as a coach, I'm sure he was a catalyst in opening up the NZ-Aussie area leading to them signing Hayden Jones, Jackson Ball & Austin Rapp. Hopefully that trio has success here, which could lead to a pipeline.

Davison has been playing in Europe. Given his makeup & some prior comments it's not surprising that he'd jump at a chance to coach, especially at his alma mater.

[Underachiever]

Gard was on the radio this morning and said it was indeed due to those business interests in NZ. Penney didn't want to make coaching a career. Davison does. I can picture Davison being the next coach of the Badgers after a longish stint as an assistant. 

And with Krabbenhoft and Davison running practice, players better bring the Icy Hot! Gonna be some banging.

[Jim French Stepstool]

12 hours ago, Underachiever said:

 

And with Krabbenhoft and Davison running practice, players better bring the Icy Hot! Gonna be some banging.

Not to mention an imposing handshake line. Juwan Howard got canned just in time.

[Jim French Stepstool]

 

Ty Schlagel is a 6'7" forward from Cretin-Durham Hall HS in the Twin Cities area. You could say he's following in the footsteps of a talented hoopster from the school in the early 70s, some kid named Molitor who later decided to emphasize a different sport. Schlagel is generally regarded as one of the top 2 or 3 HS juniors in Minnesota, and is being pursued by the B10 schools in that immediate footprint--UW, U of M, Iowa, Nebraska. What might give the Badgers a leg up is Brad Davison. It seems the two have worked out together & Schlagel is intrigued by Davison now being a member of the UW staff.

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

So, we just returned from the Red-White scrimmage. It just doesn't feel right starting a new season thread on October 19th, too danged early. So I'll comment here.

It was a two-point win for the Red team, with the score in the 40s. Before anyone wonders if Dick Bennett was coaching both teams, let me point out that there was a running clock through much of the game, plus the coaches were putting an emphasis on everyone defending, which wasn't surprising given the makeup of the staff. That means whenever someone was running an offensive set, the team on defense was guarding stuff they've practiced every day for quite a long time, so no surprises and a few more TOs than you'd be used to seeing (even so, a combined 17 or 18, which isn't a huge number).

Can't ignore the fact that the 3PT shooting was sporadic though. I think the two squads combined for something like 10-44. They'll be better than that obviously.

As to the new guys.........Austin Rapp came as advertised, a big that can shoot. He even showed a little bit of an inside/drive game. Not sure that'll happen in 'real' games, but he definitely looks like someone that can stretch a defense. Nick Boyd & Andrew Rohde both looked pretty solid (I believe Boyd scored 20-21 points). Boyd showed a versatility to his offensive game, and I'm looking forward to seeing him in tandem w/John Blackwell as they opposed each other today. Braeden Carrington looks like what I hoped for--a veteran who can guard people & good enough offensively to make people guard him.

The newcomer who impressed me the most was Hayden Jones, the freshman from New Zealand. He didn't shoot a lot (maybe 5-6 points) but watching him in warmups he has one of the more fundamentally sound strokes you'd ever want to see, and a very smart, heady player. Just solid & reliable on both ends, and at 6'6" didn't look physically outmatched. Stuck his nose in there for 3-4 boards. Saw him make maybe one bad pass, and even that might've been more the fault of the recipient than him. Carrington & Jack Janicki might make it tough for him to get minutes but IMO he's definitely ahead of Zack Kinziger at this point.

I hoped to be able to critique the guys looking for backup minutes at the 4/5---Will Garlock, Aleksas Bieliauskas & Elijah Gray---but Gray sat out so I'm left with the other two. Bielauskas looked....not terrible, but rather ordinary. He seemed to have a propensity to foul, and at least today not the best of hands. A couple chances to finish but came up empty, and missed a couple FTs. Garlock was sort of ordinary as well, not a weakling but could certainly use a little more strength, which is the case for most freshman bigs. He did have a nice 180 spin & finish for a bucket. I'd say a little more athletic than Bielauskas, but definitely room (hopefully) for growth from both.

Also...Baboucarr Ann, an extremely athletic 6'5" guard ('27) received an offer this weekend. Fifteen PPG as a sophomore along with great defensive skills. 4-star. And he attends Maple Grove (Minn) HS, the alma mater of Brad Davison. Another connection?

Lastly, the giant pretzel was delicious.

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

On 10/12/2025 at 10:01 PM, Jim French Stepstool said:

 

Ty Schlagel is a 6'7" forward from Cretin-Durham Hall HS in the Twin Cities area. You could say he's following in the footsteps of a talented hoopster from the school in the early 70s, some kid named Molitor who later decided to emphasize a different sport. Schlagel is generally regarded as one of the top 2 or 3 HS juniors in Minnesota, and is being pursued by the B10 schools in that immediate footprint--UW, U of M, Iowa, Nebraska. What might give the Badgers a leg up is Brad Davison. It seems the two have worked out together & Schlagel is intrigued by Davison now being a member of the UW staff.

 

Schlagel just committed to Nebraska. Surprisingly early commit.