The Wisconsin Badgers finished the 2023-2024 season by losing to the James Madison Dukes in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Wisconsin was a five-seed in the tournament. At one point during the 2023-2024 season, the Badgers were ranked as high as six in the country.
They finished with a 22-14 record in 2023-2024 and they will look to make more noise next season. Head coach Greg Gard is going to have a different roster next season than it did a season ago. A BIG10 Conference team has not won the NCAA Title since 2000 when the Michigan State Spartans won it all.
Wisconsin last was in the Final Four when they went there back to back-to-back years in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015. Next season will be 10 seasons when the Wisconsin Badgers were last in the Final Four. They pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the National Semifinals against the Kentucky Wildcats, before losing to the Duke Blue Devils.
ESPN Has the Wisconsin Badgers Ranked 24th Next Season In the Way Too Early Top 25
ESPN’s Staff Writer Jeff Borzello, has Wisconsin in the top 25 next season at number 24 and this may come as a surprise to a lot of people. His reasoning as to why he has the Badgers ranked this high entering the 2024-2025 season potentially by writing:
“The loss of AJ Storr hurts the Badgers, especially given the dynamism he provided on the offensive end, but Greg Gard still has Max Klesmit, Chucky Hepburn, Steven Crowl and John Blackwell coming back to form the core of his 2024-25 team. Wisconsin had its best offense last season since Bo Ryan was in Madison, but that led to huge issues on the defensive end of the floor. Gard will have to find better balance if the Badgers are to advance out of the first weekend for the first time since 2017.”
For now, the projected Wisconsin Badgers starting lineup for next season will be:
“Chucky Hepburn (9.2 PPG)
John Blackwell (8.0 PPG)
Max Klesmit (9.9 PPG)
Carter Gilmore (1.8 PPG)
Steven Crowl (11.2 PPG)”
A lot of this could change, especially since the Badgers and head coach Greg Gard are trying to lure in some talent from the transfer portal. Two of the names that they could possibly get in the transfer portal for next season are Frankie Fidler from the Omaha Mavericks and William Kyle III from the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
Those players would play a huge role on the Badgers if they were on the roster next season and will see if they were to go elsewhere. If they weren’t able to land anyone on the transfer portal, this is what Wisconsin will be stuck with next season.
A.J. Storr is going to be a huge loss for them because he stepped up in the BIG10 Tournament. Carter Gilmore will be a senior next season for Wisconsin and he could be a breakout candidate for them. Klesmit, Blackwell, and Hepburn will be the three best players next season on the roster.
Losing Tyler Wahl is also going to be huge for the Wisconsin Badgers basketball program because he meant a lot to them. Kamari McGee, who only averaged 2.8 points per game this season for Wisconsin, could be a huge bench piece next season as long as he stays healthy. Daniel Freitag and Jack Robinson will be incoming freshmen to the program next season but will see if they are able to contribute right away or not.
