Wisconsin Basketball: Badger-commit Chucky Hepburn off to a hot start

Future Wisconsin basketball player, Chucky Hepburn, is enjoying a nice start to his senior season.

The Wisconsin basketball team is just starting their season. They are ranked 12th in the country and are expected to compete for the Big Ten Title with Iowa, Michigan State, and Illinois. It’s an exciting time to be a Badger fan, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look forward to the future too.

Some would say the Badgers have struggled to recruit because they couldn’t reel in the in-state talents like Tyler Herro (Kentucky) or Jalen Johnson (Duke), but let’s be honest, players like that aren’t coming to Wisconsin. Wisconsin isn’t a one-and-done kind of school. Wisconsin likes to bring players in who want to buy into a program, and that’s what they’ve done in the latest recruiting classes.

One player I’m very excited about is a part of the 2021 recruiting class. Chucky Hepburn is a point guard from Bellevue West High School in Bellevue, Nebraska. According to 247Sports, Hepburn is a 3-star prospect and is the 126th-ranked player in the country. He chose Wisconsin basketball over Creighton, Minnesota, and Nebraska. Personally, I think 126 is too low. He is an absolute baller, and from what I’ve read and heard about him, an even better person. He’s exactly the type of player Wisconsin likes to recruit to their program.

So far in his senior season, Hepburn has led his team to a 3-0 record while putting up some impressive stats. From MaxPreps, he is putting up 22.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.0 blocks, and an astounding 4.0 steals per game. I know three games is a small sample size, but it is still impressive nonetheless.

He and his team have been absolutely dominating their opponents, outscoring them by an average of 33.0 points per game. They won the state title last year, and I’m sure Hepburn is locked in on finishing his high school career on a high note by winning another before he comes to Madison.

So what will Hepburn bring to the Badgers next year? First and foremost, a selfless facilitator. His ability to find teammates and make some nice passes is truly impressive.

Now that doesn’t mean he won’t be able to score. He is putting up 22.0 points per game for a reason. He can hit some deep threes and also get inside and score.

Chucky Hepburn is going to be one of those players that people will look back on and wonder why he wasn’t rated higher coming out of school, like a Frank Kaminsky or Ethan Happ. I’m not saying he is going to be an All-American or John Wooden Award-winner, but the Wisconsin basketball program has a history of finding these players and developing them into effective playmakers in the Big Ten. Current Badger D’Mitrik Trice was a 3-star guard who has developed into a very good player for the Badgers. I think Hepburn will be in a similar position but will be even better.

Unless Trice and Davison come back for another season, Hepburn should get a chance to play early, regardless of whether or not freshman guard Lorne Bowman returns to the program. The idea of pairing him with Johnny Davis, Tyler Wahl, and Ben Carlson for the next 2-3 years is a reason for Wisconsin fans to get very excited.

While we wait for Hepburn to come to Madison, enjoy some highlights from some summer basketball from last summer, via Courtside Films.

Yes, we need to enjoy the season we are currently in with all of our seniors, but you can’t help but get excited for the youth and future of the Wisconsin basketball program as well, and Chucky Hepburn is a big part of that future.