Wisconsin Basketball Head Coach Greg Gard announced the departure of Special Assistant to the Head Coach, Kirk Penney, and his newest hire for this position, former player Brad Davison, this week.
Penney, a UW Athletics Hall of Famer, has spent two seasons on the Badgers’ staff, after a multi-year professional career. He plans to return home to New Zealand after his resignation to spend more time with family (via Wisconsin Athletics).
In his absence, Wisconsin Basketball has hired Davison to fill his role of Special Assistant to the Head Coach. Davison played under Gard from 2017-2022, and started since the fourth game of the season his freshman year.
His freshman year, Davison set the program record for freshmen in free throw percentage (81.8%), which was passed by Connor Essegian in 2023 and John Blackwell in 2024, and three-pointers made (60), which was passed by Essegian in 2023 as well. He also was named to the 2018 Big Ten All-Freshman Team that season.
Throughout the next four years Davison climbed the Wisconsin leaderboards in multiple categories.
He finished his career with the Badgers with four school records: career three-pointers made (300), career starts (156), career minutes played (5,147) and career games played (160), which has since been broken by Tyler Wahl with 162.
A Badger through and through, Davison also stole the hearts of the Wisconsin fanbase during this time, becoming known as the “heart and soul” of the team.
Davison scored 1,821 points in total, with 552 rebounds and 342 assists, making him only 1 of 5 players in school history with 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists.
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Along with his success on the court, Davison also exhibited excellence in the classroom. The 4-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business management and human resources in 2021 and a master’s degree in educational leadership in 2022.
He also was awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor in his last season, an award given to a graduating student-athlete from each Big Ten school who has demonstrated excellence in athletics and academics throughout their career.
After leaving Wisconsin, Davison bounced around with a few professional teams overseas, most recently with HLA Alicante in Spain. This will be his first coaching opportunity.
Davison, now 26, will be stepping into a position often occupied by young, former players, like Penney was.
What will Davison’s work with Wisconsin Basketball look like as a Special Assistant to the Head Coach?
He will be stepping into a more behind-the-scenes role, where his academic experience will likely be used much more effectively than in a more hands-on role.
Some of his expected duties include breaking down film and creating scouting reports, assisting in designing practice and game plans and handling a variety of administrative duties and team logistics.
The men’s basketball season starts Nov. 3rd, against Campbell, after the Red/White Scrimmage Oct. 19th and two exhibition games against Oklahoma and UW-Platteville.