COLUMBUS, Ohio – Tyler Wahl found himself in the unfortunate habit of watching instead of playing. Against No.3 Marquette and the Big Ten opener at Michigan State in early December, Wahl played just five minutes in each game before sitting out the remainder of the half with two fouls.
A year ago, that would have been a death sentence for the Badgers’ offense, especially when the veteran Wahl is being replaced by a freshman center like Nolan Winter. That hasn’t been the case this season, evident by UW winning both of those games handily, for a pair of reasons.
One, the Badgers have a deeper, more experienced team than last season. Two, Wisconsin’s coaches and players have complete faith in Winter’s abilities on the court.
“I trust him a lot,” Wahl said of Winter. “He’s learning things every single day. He soaks things up like a sponge. No hesitation, if I see something out there, I’ll tell him, and he’s usually able to pick it up and implement it in the game.”
Having a player averaging 2.8 points and 1.9 rebounds in 9.9 minutes on the court doesn’t seem massively impactful, but what the 6-11 forward has added to No.15 Wisconsin and its roster validates that the Badgers have found another massively talented forward from Lakeville North High School in Minnesota.
In his time against the Golden Eagles and the Spartans, Winter had only two total points but a combined four rebounds to go along with an assist and a steal. More importantly, he had no turnovers.
Recent games have shown a bigger offensive flair. He scored five points against Jacksonville State and Iowa, including a three-point play where he cut to the basket to generate an open passing lane for John Blackwell and finished through senior forward Even Brauns.
He did the same thing Saturday against Nebraska, taking a feed from A.J. Storr and finishing through contact for a three-point play.
“He has an edge to him,” head coach Greg Gard said. “If you look at him, he’s got the eyes of ‘he’s coming at you.’ He goes in and battles, gets knocked down, gets back up, and keeps chuggin’.”
UW saw that trait from Winter when they started recruiting after appearances at the Badgers’ advanced camps and playing at a high school that has produced former Badger Nathan Reuvers, Wahl, and future Badgers forward Jack Robison.
Winter – who picked Wisconsin over offers from Minnesota, Oregon State, Stanford, Wake Forest, and Xavier – surprised Gard and the coaching staff for being ahead of the curve following his arrival on campus. A 6-foot-11, 220-pound forward who can move and has scoring versatility more like a small forward. That was on display during October’s Red-White Scrimmage when he registered a double-double.
“He’s a really skilled player with his length,” said assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft, who recruits Minnesota for Wisconsin. “We knew he’d grow into his body. He’s not there yet, obviously, and that’s OK. He played the game with passion, played it with fire. Reuvers, Wahl, and on and on, they are well-coached there. They play really hard. It’s a great skill to have. It gets overlooked often.”
That tenacity has served Winter well. Against Tennessee, Gard said Winter was on ice skates as he tried to defend the pick and roll and be physical on the glass. Four days later, Winter said Providence senior Josh Oduro physically manhandled him and outmaneuvered him with his body, reinforcing his need to get stronger and improve his positioning.
That didn’t stop him from diving on the floor so hard for a loose ball that Gard thought he separated his shoulder.
“It’s been fun to start living out my dream,” Winter said. “Through playing with the guys, I know I need to get stronger. I’ve known that all offseason. Continuing to do that and mentally trying not to overthink everything. I got to play my game.”
As Wisconsin (11-3, 3-0 Big Ten) prepares to face Ohio State (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten) tonight at Value City Arena (7:30 p.m./BTN), Winter has settled into a reserve role. He practices primarily with the starters and has learned the importance of not easing into a game, something he could do last year when he averaged 23.4 points and 11.6 rebounds as a senior.
He’s also learned the ability to quickly recover. The play before his three-point play against Nebraska, Storr tried to feed Winter in the post but the freshman bobbled up the pass, leading to a disjointed possession and the freshman getting a loose-ball foul.
“He’s playing more aggressive, more physical, seeking contact, or at least meeting contact halfway,” Gard said. “That’s part of a freshmen, specifically in the post. You can tell them it’s going to be physical and you can show them some things, but until they live it, it’s when they really figure it out.”
It’s starting to dawn on Winter, who hopes his length and continuous growth will only make him a bigger asset coming off the bench.
“Going into the year, I really didn’t know what to expect, so it was hard for me to set a level of what I wanted to get to,” Winter said. “I was just going to do whatever Coach asks of me, and here we are. I’m just going to keep playing. Whether it’s two minutes or 20 minutes, I’m going to play as hard as I can.”
