Wisconsin has begun to reach out to a number of players in the portal, and initially, they haven't had to look too far from home. Two of the Badgers' top targets in the portal are from Wisconsin, Cal State Northridge's Keonte Jones, and Wright State's Alex Huibregste.
Jones, who grew up in Madison and attended Madison East High School, and Huibregste, a Grafton native, have both already heard from Greg Gard and company about a potential homecoming. The Badgers have several needs to fill through the portal after losing six seniors and guard Camren Hunter and could fill some of the void with the transfers.
Jones opted for the junior college route after high school and finally made his way to Cal State Northridge, where last season he averaged 13.1 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game on 50% shooting. The 6-foot-6 wing also added 1.3 blocks and 1.8 steals per game on the defensive end.
Keonte Jones and Alex Huibregste are thinking of returning home to play for the Badgers
Huibregste has spent all five seasons with Wright State, and will now enter the portal for his final year. Last year with the Raiders he averaged 13.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists. The experienced 6-foot-3 guard is also a career 38% three point shooter.
While both players would certainly enjoying coming back home and playing in front of friends and family, the Badgers face a lot of competition to land the former Wisconsinites. Several other power schools, including Big Ten rivals like Iowa and Michigan are among the programs who have reached out to Jones.
The Badgers could use help at guard, wing and center and Jones and Huibregste would check two of those boxes for Gard. Time will tell if he can land one, or potentially both of the local players.