Greg Gard and Wisconsin basketball loses a player to the portal

Wisconsin guard Camren Hunter (3) is guarded by UW-River Falls's Reggie Postel (14) during the second half of their preseason game Wednesday, October 30, 2024 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin beat UW-River Falls 78-62.
Wisconsin guard Camren Hunter (3) is guarded by UW-River Falls's Reggie Postel (14) during the second half of their preseason game Wednesday, October 30, 2024 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin beat UW-River Falls 78-62. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The NCAA men's basketball transfer portal is booming. Hundreds of players have submitted their names to move to a new school, and until today, Wisconsin hasn't had any players jump in. That changed when a player that the Badgers picked up last year in the portal hopped back in. Camren Hunter struggled to find minutes and fit into the Gard offense/defense schemes, so it won't come as a huge surprise to a lot of Wisconsin fans to see Hunter move along.

Camren Hunter has entered the transfer portal for the Wisconsin Badgers

It won't surprise fans now to see Hunter move along, as he clearly didn't develop a role for the Badgers. However, it would have surprised many when he came to Wisconsin in the portal last season. He was a more heralded pickup than John Tonje. There was more excitement around what Hunter was bringing than even the player who ended up being a phenom.

Hunter came from Central Arkansas, averaging 16.9 points a game, and yet he couldn't even get into the rotation at Wisconsin. He only played in 11 games, averaging 2.1 minutes and 0.3 points a game. It was a huge decline from what many were expecting, and he's hoping to revive his career in a new location.

On the flip side, Tonje came in with the opposite trajectory. He was on the downside of his career, coming off a mostly injured season at Missouri, where he played only 8 games, averaging 9.8 minutes and 2.6 points. He then came to Wisconsin and went crazy, becoming arguably the best player in the Big Ten, putting up 19.6 points a game. He also had 37 points against BYU in the NCAA Tournament in the final game of his college career.

Hunter will pick up interest from a school and will be able to hopefully revive a career that clearly didn't fit at Wisconsin.

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