Wisconsin’s team for the 2025-26 season is set.
The Wisconsin Badgers have their 15-man roster set after the commitment of Temple Owls transfer forward Elijah Gray on Tuesday.
Gray, a 6’8, 235-pound transfer, is officially on board for the final year of his collegiate career. He’ll strengthen Wisconsin’s bench unit, and the team’s depth is suddenly quite strong once again.
With the roster fully set, let’s project Wisconsin’s rotation for the 2025-26 season.
Starters
Nick Boyd
John Blackwell
Andrew Rohde
Austin Rapp
Nolan Winter
Heading into the offseason, there were quite a few questions to answer about the team’s starting lineup for the 2025-26 season.
After all, Wisconsin lost three starters: John Tonje, Steven Crowl, and Max Klesmit, while another, John Blackwell, elected to test the 2025 NBA Draft waters. While it was expected for Blackwell to return after agreeing to a new deal early in the offseason, the Badgers had their work cut out for them.
But, Wisconsin quickly identified its top targets, landing San Diego State guard Nick Boyd, Portland transfer Austin Rapp, and Virginia wing Andrew Rohde. With those three additions, the Badgers got three quality role players, but it wasn’t clear exactly which direction they’d look next.
The Badgers had the option to target a center in the transfer portal to complement Rapp and Nolan Winter, and they also could’ve gone for another wing to compete with Rohde for the starting small forward spot.
Ultimately, though, this is their starting five for next year. Nick Boyd is stepping into the point guard role, relieving some of the on-ball duties from John Blackwell, who moves to his more natural position. Rohde is the third wing, while Winter slides to center to have Rapp in at power forward.
Last offseason, there were some questions about who could start going into training camp. Blackwell, Klesmit, and Crowl seemed like starters, but Wisconsin brought in Xavier Amos, John Tonje, and Camren Hunter to compete for starting jobs.
Ultimately, Nolan Winter grew into the power forward role, while Tonje quickly emerged as a top scorer.
This offseason, though, I don’t see those types of questions with this group. It’s clear the Badgers targeted and identified the transfers as starting-caliber players, and that’ll be their role at Wisconsin.
Top Bench
Braeden Carrington
Jack Janicki
Elijah Gray
Elijah Gray falls into the category of proven depth pieces after arriving in Madison.
Jack Janicki should compete for the sixth-man role after Wisconsin identified him as a key piece this offseason, signing him to a new NIL deal. He and Braeden Carrington are the lead guards off the bench, with the latter known more for his defense, experience, and improving three-point shot.
In the frontcourt, Gray is the clear leader for the Carter Gilmore/Xavier Amos role from last season, as he’s a bigger-bodied forward (6’8, 235 pounds) who will likely be tasked to defend in the paint and is also improving as a shooter (30.4 percent from deep on 1.8 attempts in 2024-25).
Gray’s shooting will need to improve to become a respectable threat from deep at the Big Ten level, but he’s an experienced player with two years at Fordham and one year at Temple.
Those three seem very likely to be in the opening day rotation, but there’s room for some younger pieces to emerge.
Wildcards
Zach Kinziger
Hayden Jones
Aleksas Bieliauskas
Will Garlock
Riccardo Greppi
There are quite a few wildcards heading into the season on the bench, namely the incoming freshmen.
Kinziger is the most highly-touted of the bench, as he’s a top-120 player in the Class of 2025 and a known scorer coming out of De Pere. He’ll need to bulk up more to match the Big Ten physicality and showcase his hustle defensively, but there’s definitely an opportunity for a role in the rotation.
Wisconsin needs scoring off the bench, and Kinziger could see an opportunity like what John Blackwell had as a freshman, being an energy guy in the back end of the rotation.
Jones is also a wildcard coming from New Zealand. Frame-wise, he seems more college-ready, but the rest of his game will have to be seen in training camp.
There is a good amount of guard depth with the three starters, Carrington, and Janicki, so the role for Jones may not be there as a freshman. But, I expect him to be competitive heading into the season.
In the frontcourt, there should be at least one contributor out of Bieliauskas, Garlock, and Greppi who should earn minutes this season. Bieliauskas stands a reported 6’11, but there isn’t much out there on his game, so he’s an unknown currently.
Garlock is the true wildcard of the group. He did suffer a major foot injury in high school, but he’s a rim-protecting, athletic center that could provide a boost off the bench. He looks the part physically, but the mental and processing side will need to be there at a tough position.
Based on his body of work from last offseason, I don’t expect Greppi to be ready to play just yet. But, he’s still a wildcard.
Overall, this group is poised to be another deep rotation for the Badgers. There are a few questions to answer come the fall, but there’s definitely a reason for optimism heading into the season with a much different group of players.