3 needs for the Badgers in the transfer portal this offseason
· Yahoo Sports
The Wisconsin Badgers saw their season come to an end last week during the first round of the NCAA Tournament, as they fell to the High Point Panthers 83-82 to go home packing early.
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They were the lone top-five seed to get upset in the first round, derailing what had been a promising end to the season with a talented roster. Unfortunately, now it’s time to revert to the offseason, where head coach Greg Gard and his staff will have their hands full once again with some key roster decisions.
A big part of the offseason equation is roster retention. The Badgers will have some key players they’ll want to come back, and I broke down the picture of the current roster coming back in 2026 over the weekend. The other part of the picture is the transfer portal, where Wisconsin will surely be a player once again after hitting paydirt in the last few cycles.
In the 2022 offseason, the Badgers brought in Max Klesmit and Kamari McGee, who were Wisconsin natives who ended up playing key roles for the team over the next three seasons.
In the 2023 offseason, Wisconsin hit big with St. John’s transfer AJ Storr, who had a breakout campaign in Madison and was viewed as an NBA prospect before ultimately electing to come back to college.
In 2024? It was John Tonje, who was arguably the best transfer in the country that year, becoming an All-American and leading one of the best teams in the Greg Gard era. Then, last year, Wisconsin went deep with the portal, landing Nick Boyd, Andrew Rohde, Austin Rapp, and Braeden Carrington, who all paid off in their own ways with this roster.
That final group had a lot of seniority, which will be a key to address in the transfer portal, but the Badgers will also have some firepower to go nab another star with their offense continuing to blossom.
What are the steps for the Badgers in the transfer portal to have a successful offseason?
Get a star
Regardless of what the Badgers do with roster retention, going after a star with their resources in the transfer portal should be the No. 1 priority. As I mentioned over the weekend, Wisconsin isn’t in need of as much depth this offseason, assuming there isn’t too much movement within the program, after landing a strong freshman class in 2025.
That provides them the luxury of going after star-caliber players that fit their offense at a high level. Now, they’ll not only need to be scheme fits, which eliminates a few candidates, but will also have to be good fits for the program, as Boyd and Tonje were over the past two years.
When looking at the roster, getting a top-tier guard or wing makes the most sense. Boyd and Andrew Rohde’s departures leave openings in the starting lineup at both spots, and using at least one for a star-caliber player would make the most sense.
Naturally, you’d want that player to complement John Blackwell and Nolan Winter in 2026, but we’ll see if that scenario ultimately plays out in Madison.
Prioritize perimeter defender
Wisconsin has highlighted quality three-and-D players in the transfer portal, notably landing Andrew Rohde and Braeden Carrington last offseason.
If there was an issue with this year’s team, there wasn’t enough perimeter defense, which will be important to figure out this offseason. Adding a defender who can guard the opponent’s top ball-handler would help Wisconsin’s defense get up to speed quicker in 2026, especially if the team can avoid serious turnover like last offseason.
The Badgers want to be a top-20 KenPom team on a regular basis. Their offense can carry that, ranking top-20 nationally in each of the last three years, but their defense ideally should be in the top 30. A key perimeter defender that maybe can also provide some perimeter shooting as a side benefit would help that.
Quality over quantity
A big issue in the transfer portal when it comes to resources is that schools are utilizing them in the wrong way. Often, that derails a program the most, especially when there’s a ton of turnover with a roster.
When you look at Wisconsin’s returning group, the Badgers will have a strong frontcourt of Nolan Winter, Aleksas Bieliauskas, Austin Rapp, and Will Garlock if they can secure all four players for 2026. A couple have already noted their desire to return.
A center was a key hope in the transfer portal last offseason to pair with Winter, but with how Bieliauskas and Rapp grew this offseason, I don’t think the Badgers need to pour more resources into an extra body there and take away from their opportunity to spend more elsewhere.
Wisconsin also doesn’t have many scholarship players departing. Only Nick Boyd, Braeden Carrington, and Andrew Rohde are seniors. Wisconsin also has two freshmen, forward LaTrevion Fenderson and guard Jackson Ball, coming in the 2026 class.
So there aren’t many scholarship spots they’ll need to fill.
Rather than look to get even deeper, the Badgers should go after one or two stars and an impact player to round out this roster. If John Blackwell comes back, perhaps you don’t even need that much. But Wisconsin needs to be smart with the way they spend their resources, with player evaluation being a key component of that.