Greg Gard is turning in another underrated transfer portal class. If you need to check the rankings on how good Gard did according to national pundits, Wisconsin is pretty far down the list. Yet, this is a yearly occurrence for the Badgers. Year after year, he brings in an unheralded class, and then year after year, he turns it into a team that competes for Big Ten Tournament titles and a low seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Also, every year, doubters dismiss Wisconsin basketball. This time, the first major publication to discount what Gard has built is ESPN, specifically Jeff Borzello. He released his Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings, and Wisconsin is nowhere to be found.
Wisconsin is not included in ESPN's Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings by Jeff Borzello
Related: Wisconsin basketball’s starting 5 suddenly looks close after Greg Gard’s latest moves
Wisconsin ended the season as one of the top 25 teams and was even a low-seed in the tournament. However, the transfer portal and graduations have caused Greg Gard to rebuild his starting lineup again. Gard did it with a couple of international signings in Owen Foxwell and Isaac Riddle. He also added Eian Elmer, Trey Autry, and Victory Onuetu.
Then retained many of his core bench players and Nolan Winter. There's a clear belief that Gard can get more out of the up-and-coming players on the roster. Players like Will Garlock, Hayden Jones, Austin Rapp, and more.
Gard always seems to find a way when the roster doesn't look as sexy as the Kentuckys, Dukes, and Michigans. He rebuilds, reloads, does it with unheralded players, and finds a way to get them to gel enough together to win. The roster isn't going to win any awards for having the "best looking roster on paper," but that's never mattered in the past for Gard and the Badgers.
The big step he needs to take for Wisconsin going forward is finding a way to translate this season's success to postseason success. Getting the Badgers to go past the first weekend.
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