Northern Illinois Forward Xavier Amos Commits to Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis – The transfer portal is finally starting to give back to the University of Wisconsin.
A day after former Central Arkansas point guard Camren Hunter announced he would be joining the Badgers’ backcourt next season, former Northern Illinois combo forward Xavier Amos announced he would be joining Wisconsin’s frontcourt.
Rated a four-star portal prospect, the 6-8, 215-pound Amos immediately helps a Wisconsin frontcourt needing to replace starting forwards Tyler Wahl (graduation) and A.J. Storr (transfer to Kansas) with only graduate center Steven Crowl returning with starting experience.
"We are really excited to welcome Xavier Amos to the Badger family," head coach Greg Gard said in a release. "His size and skillset are very versatile, and we are excited about what he can do both on the offensive end and the defensive end.
"After meeting with Xavier and his family, we know this is a great fit for our program. Being from Chicago, he also has familiarity with Badger basketball. We feel that Xavier will blend right in with our culture and our vision."
Like Hunter, Amos received no major scholarship interest from Chicago Whitney Young HS but was a popular target in the portal, especially with two years of eligibility remaining.. He reportedly heard from the most from California, Illinois, Kansas, Texas, VCU, Virginia, and Xavier after entering the portal. He took a visit to Virginia last weekend.
With the Badgers having sporadic issues finishing around the rim and needing to replace leading-scorer Storr and fifth-year senior Tyler Wahl, the Badgers are adding a player in Amos who made 62.7 percent of his shots (64-of-102) last season at Northern Illinois. His work around the rim helped him finish with a 49.6 shooting percentage in 25 starts, averaging 13.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game in just over 30 minutes per contest.
An effective jump shooter at over 40 percent, Amos shot 38.5 percent from three-point range last season, which would have been fourth best on the Badgers’ roster last season. Much like Storr, Amos has the potential to spread the floor but needs to grow on the defensive end (like Storr) after allowing opponents to shoot over 44 percent last season.
A native of Chicago, Amos scored a career-high 26 points on 11-for-15 shooting and 4-for-5 from three-point range in a road loss at Northwestern.
The recruitment of Amos went quickly for the Badgers. Assistant coach Sharif Chambliss reached out to him over the phone late last week, head coach Greg Gard spoke to him over Zoom on the weekend, and Amos was on campus Sunday.
Amos joins a frontcourt that has sophomore Nolan Winter, senior Markus Ilver, and fifth-year Carter Gilmore returning with Crowl.
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