The Badgers found their Tyler Wahl replacement with talented forward Xavier Amos.
With Greg Gard needing to retool his suddenly depleted roster, the Wisconsin Badgers basketball program bounced back and found a worthy successor to Tyler Wahl in the transfer portal.
Northern Illinois transfer Xavier Amos announced his commitment to Greg Gard and the Badgers over reported interests from Virginia, Kansas, Cal, Texas, Illinois, Nebraska, and Xavier, among others.
1000% committed pic.twitter.com/jvcmxrZLVX
— Xavier M. Amos (@WYoungX1) April 29, 2024
Amos joins the Wisconsin basketball program with at least two years of eligibility remaining. As a sophomore, the 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward averaged 13.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, and 1.2 assists per game while connecting on 38.5 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
Last season, during his time with the Huskies, Amos encountered four high-major opponents: Northwestern, DePaul, Iowa, and Marquette. Across these matchups, Amos maintained an average of 13.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks per game on 50% shooting from the field.
“We are really excited to welcome Xavier Amos to the Badger family,” Gard said in a press release. ”His size and skillset are very versatile, and we are excited about what he can do both on the offensive end and the defensive end. After meeting with Xavier and his family, we know this is a great fit for our program. Being from Chicago, he also has familiarity with Badger basketball. We feel that Xavier will blend right in with our culture and our vision.”
Let’s take a look at Amos’ game and examine what he could bring to the Wisconsin Badgers frontcourt next season.
Scouting Report
Let’s start here: on paper, Xavier Amos looks like the perfect fit for the Wisconsin basketball coaching staff’s vision for the Badgers’ “four” spot in their free-flowing continuity ball screen offensive scheme.
Amos joining the Badgers not only boosts Wisconsin’s frontcourt size but also opens up the opportunity to simultaneously put five perimeter shooters on the court and drastically improve the team’s overall spacing.
The Illinois native could be a legit weapon for the Badgers as a catch-and-shoot threat. According to data from Synergy, Amos averaged 1.20 points per shot in catch-and-shoot situations, placing him in the 85th percentile.
Having a point guard like Camren Hunter, who excels when getting downhill, makes a player like Amos, who can effectively operate as a pick-and-pop threat, an extremely valuable asset for the Badgers offense. I’d argue that nobody will benefit from his addition more than Steven Crowl because he’ll have much more room to work in the low post, with Amos drawing his defender away from the hoop and helping unclog the lane.
While Amos will undoubtedly make his mark as a three-point shooter, he can also put the ball on the deck and attack closeouts on occasion. Amos is a fluid athlete for his size who knows how to use his length and finishes pretty well at the rim, averaging 1.25 points per shot, placing him in the 73rd percentile.
Amos demonstrates some level of versatility in shot selection, making him a threat both near the basket and from long range, although he’s not someone they’ll be manufacturing post touches for a ton. According to HoopMath, he takes 40% of his shots at the rim, with an impressive conversion rate of 66.3%. Similarly, he attempts 40% of his shots from 3-point territory, boasting a solid 38.5% rate from beyond the arc.
Admittedly, I believe Amos’ offensive game will translate to the Big Ten from day one, especially with how Gard will use him next season, but he will need to put on some good weight to battle down low defensively.
My concern with Amos, if any, revolves around his defensive fit. According to Synergy Sports data, opponents shot 44.6 percent from the field against Amos, resulting in 1.019 points per possession last season, placing him in the bottom 12th percentile.
It’s worth considering that Northern Illinois ranked 333rd nationally in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency, allowing 1.138 points per possession as a team, which may mitigate some of Amos’ perceived struggles.
Despite this, Amos’s length and athleticism, coupled with his average of 1.3 blocks and 0.8 steals per game, suggest that he could elevate his defensive presence with the proper coaching, which we know he’ll get plenty of at Wisconsin — because the upside is certainly there.
Overall, this feels like a home run for Greg Gard and the Wisconsin basketball program at a major position of need. Amos will have the opportunity to start alongside Crowl from day one while providing a much-needed boost to the frontcourt depth that is also expected to return Nolan Winter, Markus Ilver, and Carter Gilmore.