MADISON, Wis. – Between practices and press conferences, the message coming out of the Wisconsin men’s basketball camp has been consistent all fall. Straight to the point, coaches and players strongly believe the Badgers have more options afforded to them because of the quality of their depth.

“We’ve got a lot of versatile players,” incoming sophomore A.J. Storr said. “Pretty much everybody can shoot the ball. Coach Gard is emphasizing defense a lot. Everybody can pick up on that, and we’ll be great.”

As Wisconsin begins its season Monday night against Arkansas State at the Kohl Center, the Badgers have a lot of similar faces but appear largely improved in a multitude of areas than the group that finished in an 11th-place tie in the Big Ten last season and missed the NCAA Tournament for only the second time since 1998.

Before the start of a challenging nonconference schedule, here are three reasons Wisconsin is primed for a bounce-back.

Most of the returning players have undergone noticeable changes in the offseason. Guards Chucky Hepburn and Max Klesmit have lost excess weight, guard Connor Essegian and reserve Carter Gilmore have bulked up, and Steven Crowl looks more polished than last season. Tyler Wahl’s change is simple because he’s fully healthy.

Last season, Wahl began the year playing at a high level by averaging 13.2 points (42 percent field goal), 6.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. A bad ankle injury suffered in a January victory over Minnesota changed the course of his and Wisconsin’s season.

He missed the next three games, losses at Illinois, home to Michigan State, and at Indiana, and lacked the same rhythm offensively when he returned. Over the final 19 games of the season, Wahl’s points per game dropped to 10.0 per outing while shooting 30 percent or worse from the field six times.

Wahl’s decision to return for a fifth season of eligibility (afforded to him because of the 2020 COVID year) gives Wisconsin its most experienced player (126 games, 85 starts) back in the fold and one of its most versatile. Wahl is 32 points away from becoming just the eighth player in program history with 1,000+ points, 500+ rebounds, and 200+ assists. He was recently named one of 20 players in the country named to the 2023 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award preseason watchlist.

Head coach Greg Gard believes everybody who returned from last year’s team is better than they were at the end of last year, especially Wahl. Entering the season 100 percent healthy, the graduate senior’s leadership, versatility on both ends of the floor, and experience make him an invaluable part of the group.

“When he came back last year, not only physically he wasn’t where he wanted to be or needed to be or should be, but mentally that weighed as much as the physical injury did,” Gard said. “I know what I’ve watched this fall so far is (he’s) healthy, confident, uber aggressive, and I think more mature … The game has slowed down for him.”

Wahl’s injury exposed Wisconsin’s lack of experience depth, especially in the frontcourt that had been crippled without offseason transfers and not replaced with players from the transfer portal. This past offseason yielded much better results in Wisconsin’s front court.

The most obvious addition was Storr transferring from St. John’s. Storr averaged 8.4 points per game and shot 40.8 percent from three-point range last season, but his production ceiling is much higher. Storr has led his team in scoring in all three preseason exhibitions and has shown himself to be a capable scorer from all three levels (post, mid-range, perimeter) and a defender comfortable guarding any position. UW has spent open practices getting him involved off the ball and growing his ability to facilitate out of the post, something he wasn’t asked to do last season.

Combine with Storr’s athleticism and guards Hepburn and Klesmit being in better shape from their offseason work, the Badgers are going to try to push the tempo and look more like the Big Ten championship team from two years ago and less like last year’s NIT semifinalists.

“He has a pretty good feel with the ball in his hands,” Gard said of Storr. “He can get downhill (with) his size and how strong he is, how quick he is, can put pressure on the rim. His ability to pass it is even a little bit better than what I thought when we recruited him … He’s continuing to learn. He’s been awesome to coach.”

Only having one scholarship player entering last year, Wisconsin has brought in three this summer that should help yield immediate dividends. Guard John Blackwell has been described as “fearless” by Gard, a 6-4 guard who appears to be an exceptional young defender with an offensive game that is starting to get some polish.

“He’s not tentative at all for a freshman, and that’s a good sign,” Gard said. “He’s got a lot of areas that can help this team.”

With Wisconsin outrebounded by an average of six per game in conference play, fans were hopeful that the additions of 6-9 forward Gus Yalden and 6-11 forward/center Nolan Winter would help stem that tide. While Yalden is taking a leave of absence to deal with a family matter, Winter has been better than advertised. He finished with a double-double in the Red-White Scrimmage and came close to another against Stevens Point (9 points/9 rebounds).

“He’s probably higher skilled than I would have given him credit for,” Gard said of Winter. “For somebody that size and how he moves and how skilled he is, he has terrific hands, really good feet, gets the ball out of his hands quick on perimeter shots … He’s got an edge to him, which I like.”

The addition of Storr in the starting lineup means that Essegian is likely returning to the reserve role that he started in last season. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

One of the bright spots of last year’s disappointing season was the emergence of Essegian, a sharpshooter from the 2022 class who broke the school record for three-pointers made in a season by a freshman. Named to the league’s All-Freshman Team, Essegian finished with 11.7 points per game – one of only five UW players to average double figures in their first season in the last 25 years – and started the final 19 games of the season.

The tradeoff for moving Essegian (who averaged 10.5 points per game as a reserve) into the starting five was that it weakened the scoring spark from the reserves, which hampered UW during the final three months. In the final 19 games, the bench – typically limited to no more than four players - scored in double figures just six times and saw no season-long reserve average more than 2.6 points.

Essegian is bigger now (up 10 pounds to 195) and is confident in his shot. Coming off the bench in Wednesday’s exhibition, Essegian’s 10 shots were a team-high.

“It gives us a good weapon,” Gard said. “The really good teams I’ve been on have had a scoring punch off the bench. For him, it’s a good time for him to come in and get a rhythm and we can play with different combinations with him. He’s not bashful (shooting), that’s for sure.”

With the noticeable improvement of Gilmore and Markus Ilver in the frontcourt and Kamari McGee in the backcourt, UW should have more firepower coming off the bench to recover from scoring droughts or injuries.

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