It's basketball season, and if you are box score hunting around NCAA hoops, you'll see some familiar faces. There are plenty of former Badgers out there after transferring out of Wisconsin. John Blackwell may take a lot of the attention of former Badgers, but three others are currently grabbing headlines at their respective schools after just one game.
Two of them may cause Wisconsin fans to wonder if Greg Gard missed on them or maybe simply didn't wait long enough, or help them develop enough. The other just found a good opportunity that is paying dividends.
1. Daniel Freitag - Oregon State Beavers
Freitag left Wisconsin over a year ago, and after exploding in Buffalo last season, he got a new opportunity at a higher-level school: Oregon State. He's only played one game as a Beaver, but he's already showing that he has immense talent, even as he took a jump up in the basketball world.
In the season opener against Weber State, Daniel Freitag was a starter who played 26 minutes and scored 23 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, and one block. He completely filled up the stat sheet and even went 12-for-12 from the free-throw line.
Freitag's Beavers play again tomorrow against Cal Baptist. He's already off to an excellent start to the season.
2. Gus Yalden - Vermont Catamounts
The Gus-Bus took the Vermont Catamounts by storm last season after a decent role player season at Seton Hall. Yalden never actually played for Wisconsin, as he spent a season dealing with personal issues and time away; he decided to transfer. Last season, he landed at Vermont and averaged 16.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
Now, after one game in this new Vermont season, he's turning heads again. He played 30 minutes in a loss to Iona, scoring 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and one steal. Yalden continues to be a former Badger player worth monitoring.
3. Riccardo Greppi - Sam Houston
Greppi got to be in the spotlight right off the bat after transferring to Sam Houston in a matchup with No. 20 Alabama. He was one of the first players off the bench for the BearKats, and he played a total of 17 minutes. His stats may not be as high as the other players on this list, but his minutes were extremely solid. He scored 2 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 assists.
These are great numbers for a playing coming off the bench and expected to guard Alabama's bigs.
Other former Badgers:
Aleksas Bieliauskas - South Carolina
Bieliauskas was a starter for the Badgers last season and was a surprise transfer, as it only seemed his opportunity would grow for Wisconsin in his sophomore campaign. He played 20 minutes, scoring 10 points, grabbing 4 rebounds, and adding two assists.
John Blackwell - Duke
Blackwell's Duke debut was underwhelming, to say the least. He spent time after the game shooting because he was so poor and clearly doesn't want to be a disappointment on his new team. You can read more about that here.
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