Wisconsin Lands First Portal Commitment in Guard Camren Hunter
MADISON, Wis. – The transfer portal finally gave some good news to the University of Wisconsin Sunday, as the Badgers received a verbal commitment from guard Camren Hunter following a weekend visit to campus.
The Badgers have been decimated by the portal in the last month, seeing seven players from last year’s roster enter, including starters A.J. Storr (Kansas) and Chucky Hepburn (Louisville), and losing out on many priority targets.
Hunter entered the portal on March 18 after Central Arkansas parted ways with head coach Anthony Boone. Rivals ranks him as a four-star prospect out of the portal.
"We're excited to have Camren join our program," head coach Greg Gard said in a statement. "His skillset is a great addition to our team, but what also stood out to us is his character and work ethic. Camren joins us from Central Arkansas, where he worked his way up and showed off his talent. He had two straight all-conference seasons before injury sidelined him this past year. When watching Camren's game, we feel that he has a Big Ten body at the guard position that will translate here. We look forward to working with Camren to help him grow and continue to elevate his game here at Wisconsin."
A two-time selection to the Atlantic-Sun's all-conference team at Central Arkansas, Hunter didn’t play last season after suffering a foot injury in October. As a sophomore in 2022-23, he averaged 16.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals. He made 50 three-pointers, shot 78.6 percent from the free-throw line, and scored in double figures in 27 of 30 games while playing a team-best 33.9 minutes per game.
Starting all 30 games as a true freshman, Hunter averaged 14.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.5 steals while shooting 44.7 percent from the field.
He entered the portal following his sophomore season and committed to Butler before ultimately deciding to return for a junior season that was wiped out. Butler was again one of the schools heavily pursuing him, along with Florida State, St. Louis, and West Virginia before the UW visit.
He has two years of eligibility remaining and will immediately be in the mix to fill Wisconsin’s starting point guard position. Reserve senior Kamari McGee is the only true point guard currently on the Badgers roster, but UW will have true freshman Daniel Freitag enrolling in the summer.
Rivals Breakdown
As a 6-foot-3, 200-pound guard with a knack for crashing the glass and outworking bigger players in the trenches, and battling for 50-50 balls, the left-handed Hunter is a quick, physical guard with the ability to keep defenders on skates with his handle. He's able to weave into traffic and score and create shots around the rim. An aspect of his game that's notable is how well he eludes defenders with fakes, turnarounds, and nifty moves.
A ball-hawk defensively, Hunter is effective in instigating live ball turnovers and converting them into transition leak-out buckets. Hunter's downhill game and knack for embracing contact are the cornerstone assets of his game. While he's been consistent with his mid-range pull-up, he still needs consistency in his long-range shooting. He did, however, have multiple games in which he stuck four 3-pointers or more during his sophomore campaign.
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