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Wisconsin Basketball: Brad Davison returning to the Badgers

By Christian Borman

Mar 19, 2021; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Brad Davison (34) reacts after a basket against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the second half in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Mackey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2021; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Brad Davison (34) reacts after a basket against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the second half in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Mackey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports /
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Brad Davison will be returning to the Wisconsin basketball team for the 2021-22 season. After weeks of speculation and not knowing what Davison was going to do, there is now some clarity. The announcement of Davison’s return was made by the Wisconsin basketball Twitter account.

Davison’s importance to Wisconsin basketball

I don’t think Davison’s return to the Wisconsin basketball team can be understated. His presence should have a positive impact on the program overall. Without Davison, the Badgers would be trotting out a very youthful team, which is the exact opposite of what they had in 2020.

Both D’Mitrik Trice (graduation) and Trevor Anderson (transfer) have opted to move on, despite having another year of eligibility. That would have left the Badgers with a backcourt that consisted of a pair of incoming freshmen in Lorne Bowman and Chucky Hepburn. Granted, that may not be the worst thing in the world, at least long-term. Short-term, a lot of inexperience could cause some rough patches for the baby Badgers.

Regardless, having Brad Davison back for one more season while Wisconsin starts breaking in some you can be nothing but a good thing. The young guards coming in will be able to watch and learn from someone who has been doing it for a while for the Badgers.

He will bring some senior leadership for a team that will surely need it.

The Badgers’ prospective lineup for next season could look something like this:

  • Chucky Hepburn (or Lorne Bowman)
  • Brad Davison
  • Jonathan Davis
  • Tyler Wahl
  • Ben Carlson (or Steven Crowl)

There’s a lot of youth there, but Davison will help create a healthy balance of your and experience.

A lot of people were probably writing the Badgers off for next season, and they still might be. But Davis will be in his second year in the program after a year of getting acclimated to the NCAA level. He showed a lot of spurts of what he can do. I fully expect him to take the next step, or even skip it, and become the guy on the team.

We know what we are getting in Tyler Wahl, but outside of Davison, Davis, and Wahl, there are a lot of unknowns, but I think this Wisconsin basketball team will surprise a lot of teams next year, and Davison coming back is a big reason why.

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