One of the Badger's top basketball recruits in the last few years just never panned out in Wisconsin. Daniel Freitag came into Madison with all the hype of one of the top players in the state of Minnesota, a 4-star recruit, and an elite high school guard. Yet, he couldn't crack the starting lineup and didn't really show the flashes from high school in his limited minutes. He decided to transfer in the offseason with no clear role forward at Wisconsin, and now he is thriving.
Freitag went to Buffalo and has been electric for the Bulls, scoring a career-high 27 points with 5 assists and 2 rebounds yesterday. His total stat line this season is showing why he was a 4-star recruit out of high school.
Wisconsin transfer Daniel Freitag just dropped a new collegiate career-high 27 points for Buffalo this afternoon! @DanielFreitag_
— Jack Pfeiffer (@AndOneFilms) November 15, 2025
The Bulls are 4-0. pic.twitter.com/8wgsKHDH5e
Daniel Freitag is thriving in Buffalo and the former Badger is showing why he was a top recruit
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Freitag, through four games this season with Buffalo, is averaging 18 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists. He's now at 72 points on the early season with only 5 turnovers. While he didn't pan out at Wisconsin, you can see some Greg Gard influence in his game as he went 14-15 from the free-throw line in his career game yesterday.
While some Wisconsin fans may feel like Gard didn't utilize him, or that maybe this was a whiff by Gard. It's just how basketball recruiting works and the good the transfer portal can actually do for a player. Gard was giving him opportunities, but he couldn't play with the fire or the explosiveness that he's found again in Buffalo.
It's good for Freitag, and sometimes the fit is what it is, and now if he keeps this season going, he will be able to jump back into one of the high-majors and see if he can keep his career on track.