UW Hoops off season-----Recruiting & Transfer Portal

[jay87shot]

What happens if the bill passes that any player who has played professionally oversees is not eligible for college? Would we have enough players to field a team?

[homer]

Check out this story from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wauwatosa West star, prized 2027 recruit Jalen Brown commits to Wisconsin

Wauwatosa West’s Jalen Brown has committed to the Badgers, he announced on June 5, giving Greg Gard his first commitment of the 2027 class.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/uw/2026/06/05/wauwatosa-west-jalen-brown-four-star-recruit-commits-to-wisconsin-badgers-basketball/90392823007/

[Jim French Stepstool]

49 minutes ago, homer said:

Check out this story from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wauwatosa West star, prized 2027 recruit Jalen Brown commits to Wisconsin

Wauwatosa West’s Jalen Brown has committed to the Badgers, he announced on June 5, giving Greg Gard his first commitment of the 2027 class.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/uw/2026/06/05/wauwatosa-west-jalen-brown-four-star-recruit-commits-to-wisconsin-badgers-basketball/90392823007/

Just learned of this. It's been a pretty long time since they've gotten a scholarship Milwaukee area kid out of HS (Marcus Landry), and it felt like a lot of time & energy was spent on the part of both sides to reach the commitment. Nice combo guard who probably sees Autry & Elmer in their one & only season in Madison and sees a path to some early PT.

I'm hoping for maybe one more commitment from this class. Portal being what it is, I don't know if it's even a good idea to put together a 4-5 player class like previous years.

[Jim French Stepstool]

4 hours ago, jay87shot said:

What happens if the bill passes that any player who has played professionally oversees is not eligible for college? Would we have enough players to field a team?

That would hurt a lot of schools if passed. From what I've heard rumored, players who have already committed would be grandfathered in, although I think it would be at reduced eligibility AFA how many years they could play.

I would welcome this.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Class of '27 Jack Thelen (Maple Grove, MN) was just offered. He's 7'1" & a HS teammate of Baboucarr Ann. I've never seen him play, but he sounds like the type that would be a project for a high-major. Offers from Montana, Murray State & Miami (O).

[Jim French Stepstool]

..........Aaaaaaand Thelen commits to Bucky.

Also, Jack Koenen has decided to become the 9,000th player from Wisconsin to commit to Iowa State in the last 8 years. Or maybe it just seems that way.

[CheezWizHed]

On 6/13/2026 at 11:20 PM, Jim French Stepstool said:

..........Aaaaaaand Thelen commits to Bucky.

Also, Jack Koenen has decided to become the 9,000th player from Wisconsin to commit to Iowa State in the last 8 years. Or maybe it just seems that way.

You sure hear the whining here in MN about all the players that have gone to the Badgers over the years... 

[Jim French Stepstool]

5 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

You sure hear the whining here in MN about all the players that have gone to the Badgers over the years... 

I can just imagine lol. It hasn't been going on nearly as long, but there's also some angst building here about the Wisconsin HS kids Otzelberger is grabbing for ISU. I used to HIGHLY wonder whether the Cyclones' program was above board, but now that you can pay players it's obvious BB is the signature program there & I suspect they write out much bigger checks.

And the Minnesota kids UW DOESN"T get, the more nationally-known kids from the Cities, usually go elsewhere too. It remains to be seen how he recruits, but in Medved they found someone who can get a lot out of the talent at hand. 

[CheezWizHed]

20 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I can just imagine lol. It hasn't been going on nearly as long, but there's also some angst building here about the Wisconsin HS kids Otzelberger is grabbing for ISU. I used to HIGHLY wonder whether the Cyclones' program was above board, but now that you can pay players it's obvious BB is the signature program there & I suspect they write out much bigger checks.

And the Minnesota kids UW DOESN"T get, the more nationally-known kids from the Cities, usually go elsewhere too. It remains to be seen how he recruits, but in Medved they found someone who can get a lot out of the talent at hand. 

I thought Patino (name sake alone) was going to turn things around. Nope.  The last guy (who I forget) made a lot of noise about building a fence around MN. Nope.  At this point, you just have to wait and see.

They always sound good when they start. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

2 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

I thought Patino (name sake alone) was going to turn things around. Nope.  The last guy (who I forget) made a lot of noise about building a fence around MN. Nope.  At this point, you just have to wait and see.

They always sound good when they start. 

Yeah, Ben Johnson. If I was a Gopher fan I would've been stoked about his hiring. But as you said, no dice.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Baboucarr Ann just concluded a trip to Madison, and some of the recruiting sites are considering him a heavy UW lean. Rivals puts it at over 90% so we'll see. Athletic 6'5" wing who would look great lining up next to Jalen Brown.

If he commits, it would be the first of hopefully many recruiting feathers in the Brad Davison cap. They're both from Maple Grove HS & Brad has put a lot of effort into this one.