Badger Basketball 2026-27 Season.

[Jim French Stepstool]

I have to admit, I miss the days of old when anticipation for college hoops started in November & culminated with the first games just before Thanksgiving. Now, I haven't even carved a pumpkin yet. And it's eighty degrees to boot.

But the exhibition season has started, so what the hey. 

To start, the end of the bench is a little thinner than anticipated. Freshman LaTrevion Fenderson of Racine won't be suiting up this year; the official word is that he's going to concentrate on academics. He's still on the roster & I assume he'll be practicing with the team. Sounds like a good ol' fashioned redshirt. And fellow freshman Josh Manchester, a walkon from Mt Horeb, will miss the entire season after having shoulder surgery.

One difference I've noticed in putting this squad together is that in past years Greg Gard subscribed to the attitude of finding scorers & being confident that he could teach them to defend. I thought this worked to some extent----Austin Rapp was someone who improved immensely on that end of the floor as the season unfolded---but that led to the defense typically taking quite some time to jell & there was always the question of how good they could actually be on that end. It looks like this team was constructed with a willingness & ability to guard being more of an initial consideration. Victory Onuetu is strictly an around-the-hoop guy offensively, but carries the label of rim protector. Trey Autry might need time for the help & recover aspect but is regarded as a good on-ball defender. Eian Elmer seemed to guard at a more than acceptable level last year with Miami(O). When you add that to the aforementioned Rapp, Nolan Winter developing into a better defender than I thought he could, Will Garlock (mostly) being in the right place at the right time last year (no small feat for a FR big), and Carrington & Janicki being proven on that end, I'm hoping the learning curve won't need to be nearly as sharp. And in limited minutes, I thought Hayden Jones & Zack Kinziger showed some defensive chops, too.

Offensively, I'm sure they'll still look to run when the break is available. But the opportunities might be fewer just because of Boyd being gone. He was a one-man break who forced the issue. No complaints; he was good at it. I just think the open floor stuff will look more conventional as filling the lanes takes on added importance. Getting the boards & kicking the outlet pass obviously needs to happen, and Garlock has the tools to be pretty good at that I think. They've also talked about utilizing the screen & roll and lob game to get the bigs scoring opportunities. I'll hold the phone on that one; Onuetu seems pretty raw offensively & Rapp did most of his damage outside. But Winter has added to his game since he's been here, and Garlock is being lauded as much improved. So we'll see.

As for the Parkside exhibition, it sounded like Garlock & Winter got whatever they wanted inside, which wasn't a surprise. Looking at the box, I liked Foxwell collecting 6 assists, and Garlock with 6 boards & 3 assists. They each had 4 TOs; teaching points I'd imagine. And it was nice to see that Janicki knocked down a couple of shots. With the many options at the 2 & 3 spots I assume that---just like with Carter Gilmore---there will be people expecting him to get buried. As long as he keeps making good decisions in the half-court & defends like he can, no way. He'll see the floor.

Rapp didn't play vs Parkside. They're being really cautious with him after the hand surgery. I'd guess there's at least a 50-50 chance he can go in the next exhibition & certainly before the regular season starts.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Jack Thelen, the 7-footer from Minnesota has decommitted. I suspect what happened is this: there wasn't much NIL money involved in his commitment to UW since he wasn't considered a high-level recruit, his stock soared over the summer & he's now seeing much more opportunity out there. It sucks in the sense that both Winter & Onuetu are SRs, but better now than further down the road.

[Jim French Stepstool]

The injunction has been granted for the players who were looking at getting the extra season of eligibility, which includes Braeden Carrington. Many expect the NCAA to appeal, but it's another hurdle cleared for Carrington & it looks pretty likely he'll be suiting up this year.

It's a huge plus, but at the same time I feel for the part of the roster that is suddenly competing for minutes with someone who they didn't expect to be there---particularly Hayden Jones, Trey Autry & Jackson Ball. I'm guessing Carrington at this point has the inside track on Autry as the starting 2-guard.