Daniel Freitag, the highest-rated point guard recruit for Greg Gard, has now entered the transfer portal. The freshman saw limited minutes this season, and after just one year has decided to move on from the Badgers. But Freitag's departure is very significant. He was a highly rated recruit, and one that figured to get more playing time this year after more development, leaving many fans asking the question: Should Wisconsin even bother recruiting at the high school level anymore?
The answer the the question is: no, they shouldn't bother. In fact, even before Freitag's transfer, Gard and company had started to move away from traditional recruiting. The 2025 class includes only international and in-state prospects, with little to no effort made to entice national recruits to join the program. It's a smart move, considering that in-state products are more likely to stay and develop, and international recruits tend to be older with more basketball experience. It's not worth it anymore to recruit and develop a player for another team to swoop in and pick him up in the portal a year later.
Is Greg Gard done recruiting at the high school level? It seems like it's trending that way
Freitag's case will be one to point to in the coming years when it comes to Wisconsin recruiting. Not to say every international or in-state recruit will be perfect either, but they probably offer a safer and more secure bet. The Badgers have always been built on team and culture as opposed to superstar talent, and that plays into their new ways of recruiting as well.
Losing Freitag is a tough pill to swallow. He was a promising hooper, but in the end, it didn't work out between the team and the player. His loss will almost certainly start the trend of shying away from putting time, money, and resources into top-end recruits for the Badgers, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It does, however, put a lot more pressure on this transfer period. Wisconsin now needs to replace seven players from last year's roster.