Braeden Carrington Ready To Have Fun Playing For the Wisconsin Badgers

The 6-4 Brooklyn Park, MN, native was entering his freshman season at the University of Minnesota as the state's Mr. Basketball winner, averaging 17.8 points per game for a school that went 31-1 and won the 2022 4A state title.

But joining a team with established scorers like Jamison Battle, Dawson Garcia, and others, Carrington knew the quickest way to earn minutes was to embrace things other than scoring.

"I'll be honest, in high school, nobody knew I was a defender," Carrington said. "I didn't know myself that I was a defender. I was just the guy that goes out there and puts the ball in the hoop.

"I realized I wasn't the best player on the court anymore. Everybody else is just as good as me, and I'm not going to be able to go up and shoot a bunch of shots. For me to get on the court, I had to stand out and do something else. I figured out that just doing the dirty work, not everybody wants to do that.

"I found joy in getting rebounds, playing inside, and getting physical. I think that helped with my defense and getting stronger."

It also caused him to jump on the University of Wisconsin's radar. Seeing Carrington in person and watching him grow during last season at Tulsa, the Badgers saw Carrington's willingness as a defender and veteran leadership as a perfect addition to their 2025 transfer class.

Joining fellow senior guards Andrew Rohde and Nick Boyd, as well as sophomore forward Austin Rapp, Carrington brings 90 games and 29 starts of college experience and averaged 7.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and had 32 steals last season for the Golden Hurricanes.

"My defensive intensity and how much I have the passion to win, that's the big thing I talked to with a lot of schools, but especially Wisconsin," Carrington said. "With guys like Max Klesmit and Steven Crowl gone, they just needed a presence to go out there and do the dirty stuff. They have great players returning, but they wanted another guy to help, be an older presence, and just be physical and gritty."

Carrington described his offer list as "decent" and said his decision came down to UTRGV, USF, and Wisconsin.

"It's my final year," Carrington said. "My biggest thing going into the portal was to find a place where I can go and help win. I just want to be in a place with a winning culture, and I can have fun my last year. After talking with the coaches, they were giving me a good chance to compete for a spot and be a big part. Wisconsin has proven to be one of the top teams every year. It was hard to say no."

Carrington didn't need to do much research into what Wisconsin was all about. He played three games against the Badgers from 2022-24 and averaged 5.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in 18.7 minutes, including registering 11 points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes as a true freshman. UW won all three games but only by a total of nine points.

"Unfortunately, they beat us all four times," Carrington said. "You can just tell being on the same court as them (that) they work hard, they play hard, and they are coached hard. Obviously (Greg) Gard is a great coach. I saw that being on the same court, same arena as them. When I went to the Kohl Center, it's a great atmosphere with the fans, and I know it's packed out every single night."

Carrington played in 51 games and had 10 starts in two seasons at Minnesota. He scored 5.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in 20.4 minutes during his two seasons before deciding to enter the portal before last season.

He doesn't believe he learned anything new after moving from Minnesota to Tulsa, but called the year critical to regaining the confidence he had in high school. While he had flashes of success with the Gophers, Carrington couldn't sustain it due to dealing with a myriad of nagging injuries. Even when a high ankle sprain cost him two weeks this past season, Carrington felt more resilient.

"I just could never get over the hump (at Minnesota)," Carrington said. "I know how I can play. All my numbers obviously went up from a year ago, and I think it's only going to get better. The staff at Tulsa helped me a lot to get my confidence back, and I appreciate them a lot for that. (My confidence is) something I had to get back out of me because it was lost.

"I had many meetings my freshman and sophomore year about hitting a stride and then getting set back. It was a lot mentally I had to get over. I finally figured it out this past season."

He doesn't know when, but Carrington knows he'll have his full-circle moment when he faces off against Minnesota at least once in the upcoming season.

"Man, that's probably the only thing I've been hearing the last couple days, but I think it'll be fun," Carrington said. "I still got a couple guys on that team. It'll be an interesting feeling. The fans will feel some type of way, but it'll be fun for sure."

With four returning scholarship players, four players added from the transfer portal, and four incoming freshmen, the Badgers have 12 scholarships accounted for entering next season. If point guard John Blackwell decided to withdraw from the NBA Draft, Wisconsin would have 13 scholarship players and one walk-on, having room to add one more player.