Several Big Ten teams made some major moves this offseason.
The Wisconsin Badgers had a busy offseason in the transfer portal, landing five players in a multitude of waves to bolster their depth for the 2025-26 season.
Wisconsin quickly identified San Diego State guard Nick Boyd, Virginia wing Andrew Rohde, and Portland forward Austin Rapp as key targets early, getting all three to commit to the program.
Then, they added Tulsa guard Braeden Carrington for some backcourt depth alongside Jack Janicki. Finally, a transfer forward came into the building last week when the Badgers signed Temple forward Elijah Gray as their 15th man on the roster.
Boyd, Rohde, and Rapp will all start for what should be a preseason top-25 team, while Carrington and Gray should receive key minutes off the bench on what seems on paper to be another deep Badgers group.
With their haul, are the Badgers a top transfer winner this offseason?
ESPN’s Dick Vitale ranked the top transfer wins of the cycle in a recent article, while also pointing out the top transfer portal teams from the offseason.
The five “prime-time players” he listed were P.J. Haggerty (Kansas State), Donovan Dent (UCLA), Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB), Darrion Williams (NC State), and Bennett Stirtz (Iowa).
In his top five transfer portal teams, two Big Ten programs made the cut, but neither was the Badgers.
Instead, the Wolverines came in at No. 3 with a transfer portal class headlined by Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., Aday Mara, and Elliott Cadeau.
Then, at No. 5, the Washington Huskies were a surprise name in the mix. The West Coast team added a pair of USC transfer guards, Desmond Claude and Wesley Yates III, as their top commitments.
But, they also got lead guard Quimari Peterson, forward Jacob Ognecevic, Lathan Sommerville, Bryson Tucker, Christian Nitu, and Mady Traore.
Even if they weren’t ranked as a top-five group, the Badgers filled all their needs in the transfer portal, getting key starters that matched what they needed and depth to come off the bench.
Not to mention, the Badgers also got four freshmen in their 2025 class, with several of them having an opportunity for early minutes.
Wisconsin’s deep rotation was key to their success in 2024, and will likely play a factor again in 2025 if they can get some effective play there. They’ll need quality minutes from their transfers and their freshmen if that is to happen.