Noah Reynolds is exchanging one UW for another one.
Wisconsin landed its first commit out of the transfer portal in the former Wyoming sophomore guard after Reynolds took a visit to Madison earlier this month.
After appearing in 23 games as a true freshman, Reynolds averaged 14.5 points per game in 19 appearances. He missed the final nine games of the season after being shut down following a second concussion in a five-week span. He was the team's leading scorer at the time of his injury, and Wyoming (9-21) went 2-7 without him on the floor.
“Concussions are a scary thing and something you don’t want to mess with,” Wyoming coach Jeff Linder said during the season. “It’s something you have to look out for is a player’s long-term health. That’s what we’re doing with Noah. Yeah, it’s not ideal by any means, and it’s par for the course for the season and how the season has gone, but it’s the best thing for Noah and his future.”
When healthy, Reynolds was proven to be an efficient scorer. He scored 20 or more points seven times, including a career-high 30 points against Texas A&M-Commerce and 23 points at UNLV.
The Badgers went 20-15 and lost in the NIT semifinals this season in large part to an inefficient offense. Wisconsin shot 41.4 percent from the field, averaged 65.3 points per game and scored 106.9 points per 100 possessions, the latter number ranked them 140th in the country via Kenpom (the lowest for UW since the site started tracking stats in 2002).
Reynolds shot 48.1 percent from the floor, 32.9 percent from three-point range, and 66.2 percent from the line last season.
He was an All-State selection as a senior at Notre Dame High School in Peoria, Ill., averaging 15.3 points per game to go along with 6.3 assists (an area best), 5.6 rebounds and 2.2 steals. He helped lead his school to a 44-2 record his final two seasons, including a No.1 ranking in 3A his junior season when he was named the Journal Star Large-School Boys Basketball Player of the Year
“He is a winner with a 68-9 record in his high school career spending four seasons as a starter on varsity,” Linder said when announcing Reynolds’ written commitment. “Noah is an everyday player that is constantly working on his game. He is an excellent competitor with a great feel for the game and excellent vision on the floor. His grit and toughness will be an immediate separator at the collegiate level.”
Wisconsin is expected to add multiple players, including frontcourt players, from the transfer portal, something Gard was working on during the Badgers' postseason run.
"Teams were in the NCAA Tournament were during home visits with guys who were in the portal, then they're getting their team to jump on a plane to go to play at the site or doing Zoom visit while they are at the NCAA Tournament site," Gard said last month. "We're in the same boat navigating that. You have to do it."
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