MADISON, Wis. – University of Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard was hopeful that plucking A.J. Storr from the transfer portal would have a positive impact on his program. He had no idea that the wing from St. John’s would be as impactful as he was.
Leading the team in scoring (16.8 ppg) and helping modernize the Badgers’ offense with spacing and pace, Storr announced that he would depart Wisconsin after one season and declare for the NBA Draft. His post on social media also indicated that he will maintain college eligibility, so a return to Madison is not out of the question.
Storr joins three others leaving the program following Wisconsin’s first-round loss to James Madison on Friday: sophomore Connor Essegian and redshirt freshman guards Ross Candelino and Luke Haertle.
Storr struggled in his first NCAA Tournament game, finishing with 13 points (5-for-13) and four turnovers. It was about the only situation where Storr didn’t show streaks of dominance for the Badgers.
He earned Big Ten All-Tournament Team honors, averaging 22.5 points per game (44.3% FG, 38.5% 3FG, 81.8% FT). That included a career-high 30-point showing in UW's win over Northwestern), one of 11 games this past season where he scored at least 20, and part of a stretch where he did it in three consecutive outings. He was the first Badger to score 20+ points in three straight games since Johnny Davis in 2021, an NBA Draft lottery pick, consensus first-team All-American, and Big Ten Player of the Year.
In Big Ten play, Storr's production increased to 17.2 points (sixth in B1G), 44.2 field goal percentage, 78.9 free-throw percentage. Finishing the season scoring in double figures in 31 straight games, he has the longest double-figure scoring streak since Ethan Happ did so 42 straight (final 24 games of 2018-19 through first 18 games of 2019-20).
He was at his best attacking the rim, evidenced by his athletic dunks around the rim, but he finished at just 32.0 percent from three-point range and was an average rebounder (3.9 rpg, two double-doubles) for his size. He finished the season shooting 43.4 percent overall and 81.2 percent from the free throw line.
“He may be our most improved player from October until this day,” Gard said. “There were points in October I didn't know if he could start for us just because he was missing a lot of intangible things and understanding of how we needed to play and how we wanted to play to be successful.
“But he's really been awesome to coach. He's listened. He's embraced coaching, and he's obviously added an offensive punch to us that we didn't have previously. Really with identifying him, we knew he was originally from the Rockford area, so there was a chance for him to come back closer to home to play, and that's really the premise behind us reaching out for the most part.
“He had athletic ability that does things you can't teach, but there was a lot of things, probably more than I anticipated, that he had to pick up and learn and grow from, and he's done a good job of that.”
That production will be hard to replicate. Wisconsin currently ranks 17th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency. Last season without Storr, the Badgers averaged finished 140th, scoring 12.2 points per 100 possessions fewer. It was the Badgers’ lowest ranking since at least 2002 when the site started tracking data. UW’s 74.7 points were the most it averaged in 30 years, shooting 46.4 percent.
Wisconsin will need to replace Storr and forward Tyler Wahl from its starting lineup but will return guards Chucky Hepburn and Max Klesmit and center Steven Crowl. That trio was responsible for 40.3 percent of the scoring this past season.
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