MADISON, Wis. – Could this be the dawning of a “big” season with the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team?
Possessing two near 7-footers with experience in graduate senior Steven Crowl and sophomore Nolan Winter, the first open media practice of the fall saw both centers play extensive minutes on the floor next to each other, a rare occurrence in the 36 games a season ago.
Intentional? Unintentional? Time will tell as Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard tries to piece together a championship-caliber roster in 2024-25.
“I’m mixing teams every couple days,” he said following the first open media practice of the season Wednesday. “This is only day three. We’re still in the infancy stages of mixing and matching positions.”
The presence of Crowl and Winter on the floor is one of the few carryovers from the spring. Three transfers, three freshmen, and a walk-on have replaced the eight players no longer on the roster from last year’s 22-win NCAA Tournament team, leaving plenty of minutes and roles yet to be defined.
Crowl is UW’s established presence in the post, having started all 104 games played since his sophomore season, and is the team’s leading returning scorer (11.2), rebounder (7.3), assists (76), blocks (17), and minutes (29.0).
Winter also played in all 36 games last season and averaged 2.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in 9.4 minutes per game as a true freshman. Most of those minutes were in a reserve role with Crowl on the bench.
Entering year two, Winter is in a better position for more minutes. He’s stronger after adding at least 15 pounds to his frame in the offseason and more agile, a product of spending time working with former UW center Jared Berggren. Both choices have made him better prepared to see the floor and, possibly, work at the four next to Crowl.
“Anytime a freshman goes through and gets experience,” Gard said. “That’s why I like to get freshmen, if they show signs of being ready, at least a little bit of run because it helps them into year two. It gives them a true taste of what it’s like. It gave him a better idea of how to prepare for the offseason, how important the weight room was, what he needed to work on.”
Blackwell Strives for Top Billing
The departure of several of the league’s top players and scorers has left a void for who is in the conversation for the top player in the Big Ten conference. Sophomore John Blackwell believes he can stake his claim to that label after impacting UW with his energy and scoring off the bench.
The ninth player in school history to be named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team and the first UW player since Nigel Hayes (2013-14) to be named the conference’s Freshman of the Week four times, Blackwell was a steady contributor at 45.5 percent shooting, 45.0 percent three-point shooting, and 82.1 percent from the line.
According to Gard, Blackwell sees himself only scratching the surface as he’s likely to move into a large role in his second season.
“He just feels he is the best player on the floor,” he said. “That’s the jump you would expect him to take. Physically he’s gotten better, too. That’s obvious but just watching the confidence and aura about him, he wants to be the best player. That’s his goal to be one of the best players in our league.”
Praised last season by the coaching staff for playing with an intelligence more suited for a senior than a freshman, Blackwell is next to Winter in terms of most improved player. He’s also serving as a mentor to freshman Daniel Freitag, who is looking to impact Wisconsin in the same way Blackwell did a year ago.
Running an offense that relies on continuous ball screens, it’s a goal of Gard to have three ball handlers on the floor. With the departure of starting point guard Chucky Hepburn to Louisville, the only two true point guards on the roster are senior Kamari McGee and incoming junior Camren Hunter, although senior Max Klesmit can handle the role in a pinch.
Freitag’s athleticism was evident in practice, especially when he zipped past Blackwell – one of UW’s best defenders – for a layup.
“He’s pretty well together for a freshman,” Gard said. “His burst, his stop-start, some of the hesitation stuff he does, the athletic ability is there. It’s a matter of maturing in terms of how you see the game. You need to know when you’re in the school zone and when you’re on the interstate. It’s something he’s gotten better at since June.”
Quotable
“We’re a ways from putting a finished product on the floor, but what I like about this group is their collective competitiveness. Every day they are at each other. We haven’t had any fights yet. We’ve come close, which is good. They know we have a lot of people vying for positions. The pecking position will sort itself out in time.” ~ Greg Gard
Free Throws: Recovering from an offseason ankle injury, Klesmit will be limited during some aspects of the preseason to keep him fresh and for the staff to evaluate its new players … Graduate forward John Tonje was not at practice due to his brother’s wedding … Italian freshman Riccardo Greppi has been “drinking out of a firehose” since he arrived in late fall, missing eight weeks of summer workouts, but “has handled it well, is very coachable, (and) asks the right questions.”
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