MADISON, Wis. - Daniel Freitag was no longer willing to wait.

The highest-rated point guard prospect Wisconsin has signed in school history, Freitag is entering the transfer portal after sparingly playing his freshman season.

League Ready first reported the news of Freitag's transfer, which Freitag later confirmed in a social media post.

Freitag was expected to compete for the vacant point guard position with the departure of senior Chucky Hepburn to Louisville. However, the 6-foot-3 guard didn't look comfortable during preseason camp with the practice's speed and physicality, as he struggled with ball security and picking up the staff's concepts.

With the veteran presence of senior Kamari McGee and the emergence of sophomore John Blackwell becoming the Badgers' top two options at the position, Freitag was limited to mop-up duty in 14 games. He averaged 2.1 minutes and scored his only basket against Iowa on January 3.

Blackwell started all 37 games and was second on the team in scoring at 15.8 points per game, while McGee shot a team-best 45.9 percent from three-point range.

Freitag was not made available to reporters by UW Athletic Communications once the season began but was available to reporters during open locker room sessions during the postseason. Freitag told the Wisconsin State Journal's Michael McCleary before Wisconsin's NCAA Tournament first-round game in Denver that he didn't view the season as a failure for the lack of playing time because of the amount of information he learned from working on the scout team.

"I want to be here, if they want me here," Freitag told the McCleary. "If I'm valued I'm gonna stay, absolutely. I have every intention to stay."

Freitag spent the season rooming with junior point guard Camren Hunter, who transferred from Central Arkansas last spring to help add depth to the role in the wake of Hepburn's departure. Ironically, the two shared a similar path with hardly playing and leaving after one season.

A finalist for Minnesota's Mr. Basketball in 2024, Freitag led his team to a 31-1 record and a Class 2A state championship while averaging 26 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. Before that, he became Jefferson High School's all-time leading scorer in only three seasons, averaging 28.8 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game as a junior.

Freitag also excelled at football, earning all-district honors, being named conference player of the year as a junior, and generating college interest, including a scholarship from Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell.

With Wisconsin losing eight scholarship players off last year's roster, adding three freshmen in the 2025 recruiting class, and likely putting redshirt freshman Jack Janicki on scholarship, the Badgers will have at least four scholarships to utilize in the portal.

_________________________________________________

*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den

*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel

*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)

*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @TheBadgerNation, @_Perko_, @seamus_rohrer, @DonnieSlusher_

*Like us on Facebook