Men’s Basketball
Over a month before the season officially begins, fans of the men’s basketball program have already set high expectations, as for the 19th time in 22 seasons, all 2,100 student season tickets sold out within 12 minutes on Sept. 25.
Season Schedule
The men’s basketball season is set to start on Oct. 30 with the third-ever matchup between the University of Wisconsin-Madison and UW-River Falls. The Badgers will go head-to-head against the Falcons for the Garding Against Cancer Initiative, an organization founded by head coach Greg Gard to support cancer research, patients and their families.
The Badgers will then participate in the inaugural edition of the Greenbrier Tip-Off tournament in West Virginia from Nov. 22-24, facing UCF in the semifinals and either Pitt or LSU in the final.
However, the season won’t get into full swing until the first week of December, when the Badgers host their first Big Ten game against Michigan Dec. 3 before traveling to Milwaukee to face long-time rivals Marquette Dec. 7 and Big Ten rivals Illinois Dec. 10.
The Badgers are currently on a three-game winning streak against the Golden Eagles, most recently beating them 75-64 at the Kohl Center thanks to a 21-point performance from then-junior Max Klesmit.
On the other hand, the Badgers fell against the Wolverines and the Fighting Illini last season in single-digit losses, which they’ll look to make up for this season.
The Badgers follow the three-game stretch with another tournament, this time participating in the Indy Classic in Indianapolis Dec. 14 against Butler.
In one of the biggest games of the season, the Badgers will host the Minnesota Golden Gophers Jan. 10 before they travel to Minneapolis Mar. 5. However, much to the enjoyment of Badger fans, the Badgers are currently on a seven-game winning streak against the Golden Gophers stretching back to the 2019-20 season.
Closing out the season, the Badgers have over two months straight of Big Ten action, including brand-new rivalry games against the four new Big Ten teams — USC, UCLA, the University of Washington and the University of Oregon.
The Badgers will face the Trojans and Bruins in Los Angeles Jan. 18 and 21 respectively, but will be privileged to host the Huskies and Ducks at the Kohl Center Feb. 22 and 25, respectively.
This season, the pinnacle of college basketball glory, March Madness, will take place starting on Selection Sunday, Mar. 16. Selection Sunday falls on the same day as the Big Ten Championship game, which the Badgers will also fight to compete for.
Last season, the Badgers were upset in the Round of 64 of March Madness by James Madison University, but with the arrival of four true freshmen and redshirt Jack Janicki, the Badgers will look to improve on last year’s performance.
New Talent
In total, the Badgers added eight new faces to the program, including freshmen Ricardo Greppi, a 6-foot-10 forward from Italy, Jack Robison, a 6-foot-6 forward from Lakeville, Minn., Daniel Freitag, a 6-foot-3 guard from Bloomington, Minn. and Aidan Konop, a 6-foot-2 guard from Sussex, Wis.
UW also added former ASUN freshman of the year Camren Hunter from Central Arkansas University, four-star prospect Xavier Amos from Northern Illinois University and Cameroonian international John Tonje from the University of Missouri.
But, bringing so much talent to UW came with a serious trade-off. Three key players from last season, top scorer A.J. Storr, starting guard Chucky Hepburn and Connor Essegian entered the transfer portal.
Tyler Wahl, whose 162 appearances for the Badgers is the most all-time, graduated in May with a master’s degree in sports leadership, a real testament to his contribution to the program during his five years as a Badger. He also ended his collegiate career as the 21st highest scorer in Badger history with 1,350 points, just behind Badger legends like Alando Tucker, Michael Finley, Nigel Hayes and Frank Kaminsky.
There are many questions surrounding the men’s basketball program this season, but the new additions bring a ton of experience to the lineup, which could benefit the younger prospects and continue to set up the program for future success.
Women’s Basketball – Season Schedule
The Badgers kick off the 24-25 season with an exhibition game against UW-Stevens Point, playing them for the first time since winning big back in 2013.
But the Badgers’ first big test will come during the Cancun Challenge from Nov. 28-30, when the team will be focused on beating San Diego State, Providence and VCU.
Big Ten play for the Badgers begins against Rutgers Dec. 8, and they’ll look to finish 2024 strong with a game against Minnesota Dec. 31. The Badgers currently boast a four-game win streak against the Golden Gophers and they’ll look to make that five before ringing in the new year.
Starting in 2025, the Badgers will make their first trip to the Pacific Northwest in over 10 years, taking on Oregon and Washington after the programs joined the Big Ten this season.
The other two new Big Ten programs, USC and UCLA, will face off against the Badgers for the first time in their history on Feb. 5 and Feb. 26, respectively.
The Badgers had their most successful season under head coach Marisa Moseley last year, finishing with a 15-17 record and narrowly falling to St. Louis in the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals.
New Talent
The women’s team only got stronger this offseason, retaining preseason All-Big Ten forward Serah Williams. Williams was last season’s Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year setting the Big Ten record for most consecutive double doubles with 17.
The Badgers also retained guards Halle Douglass and Natalie Leuzinger, who, after starting in 29 games each last season, returned to UW to work on graduate programs.
Moseley brought in some new talents from the transfer portal, adding Horizon League Freshman of the Year Carter McCray from Northern Kentucky and Tess Myers, who helped lead Duquesne to the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals last season.
Moseley didn’t stop at the transfer portal however, recruiting five freshmen from around the world. 5-foot-11 forward Gracie Grzesk and 5-foot-8 guard Reese Jaramillo are both in-state prospects, but 6-foot wing Jovana Spasovski joins the Badgers from Serbia while 5-foot-6 guard Alba Martín Mesa joins from Spain. Rounding out this season’s freshman class is 6-foot-4 Alie Bismalle who is coming to UW from Michigan.
The Badgers made some off-the-court changes as well, promoting Margaret McKeon to associate head coach and bringing in assistant coach Frozena Jerro from Cleveland State.
With all of these changes, it’s hard to imagine the Badgers won’t see a jump from last season’s 10th place finish in the Big Ten, and there will be plenty to look forward to this season as a Badger fan.