Wisconsin Freshman Gus Yalden Enters the Transfer Portal
MADISON, Wis. – When forward Gus Yalden announced his college commitment, he called it a dream to play for the Badgers. Less than two years later, that opportunity has closed.
Yalden has put his name in the NCAA Transfer Portal after one year and no appearances for the program, ending a UW career that was full of promise but derailed from the start.
He is the fourth UW player to enter the transfer portal, joining sophomore guard Connor Essegian and redshirt freshman guards Ross Candelino and Luke Haertle.
Yalden came to Wisconsin full of potential to be the Badgers’ next promising low-post player, a 6-9 prospect with versatility who was ranked as Rivals’ No.114 overall prospect in the 2023 class.
He helped La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) finish 18-10 in the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference (NIBC), considered to be one of the toughest conferences in the nation. Before his senior season, Yalden had a strong summer in the Nike EYBL, which included a 35-point, 17-rebound performance at the prestigious Nike Peach Jam in July.
An Appleton native, Yalden was the first prospect the Badgers offered in his class and committed in May 2022 over 20-plus scholarships.
Any thoughts of Yalden playing meaningful minutes in UW’s thin frontcourt were derailed at the onset of the fall semester. He suffered a scooter accident on campus in late September that knocked him out of practice for a week. He also received a misdemeanor citation later that month for underage drinking and another in late October for possession of marijuana.
On November 1, UW announced he was taking a leave of absence from the team in early November to deal with a “personal family matter.”
He returned to the team on November 10 and was at the scorer’s table late in the second half of Wisconsin’s win over Western Illinois on November 27 before ultimately returning to the bench.
UW never officially announced Yalden’s intentions to redshirt but he never came close to appearing in another game. He did not travel with the Badgers to the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis or the NCAA Tournament game in New York.
Other than speaking at UW’s media day in October, interview requests for Yalden were consistently declined throughout the season by a Wisconsin spokesman, reportedly because he wanted to focus solely on his game.
Yalden’s transfer and the graduation of Tyler Wahl is a sign the Badgers must be aggressive in finding low-post help in the portal. Senior starter Steven Crowl and senior reserve Carter Gilmore both announced their intentions to use their COVID year and return for a fifth season of eligibility. Crowl has started 104 of his 116 appearances at Wisconsin, while Gilmore (99 games) is known more for his defensive acumen and not his offense.
UW’s other low-post options include sophomore Nolan Winter, senior Markus Ilver, and junior Chris Hodges. Winter averaged 9.4 minutes and 2.4 points per game in his first season, while Ilver (1.1 pts, 5.9 minutes) saw an uptick in play as the season progressed. Hodges (11 games) has yet to break into UW’s rotation.
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