Just hours after landing a commitment from Lithuanian big man Aleksas Bieliauskas, Greg Gard nabbed a pledge from Tulsa transfer Braeden Carrington on Thursday.
Carrington spent his first two collegiate seasons at Minnesota before transferring to Tulsa. He started in 19 of 29 appearances with the Golden Hurricanes and averaged 7.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals across 26.8 minutes per game.
The 6-foot-4 wing primarily plays off-ball and has shot 34.2 percent from the field and 30.5 percent from beyond the arc across his career. He’s slated to contend with Jack Janicki and incoming freshmen Zach Kinzinger and Hayden Jones for backcourt minutes off the bench. He’s a strong defender and provides plenty of effort, but I have plenty of qualms with his fit in Madison.
Before I dig into why I’m not sold on Carrington in Cardinal and White, I’d like to note it’s not meant to be a knock on the former Golden Gopher — I think he can provide value and is certainly a Big 10 caliber player.
Braeden Carrington is a perplexing fit for the Wisconsin Badgers but in Greg Gard we trust
To start, Carrington and Janicki’s strengths and weaknesses overlap far too much. Both are inefficient scorers and off-ball players but are solid rebounders and do many of the little things that can lead to victories.
Who will be able to score or create for others off the bench? I don’t think there’s an answer. Perhaps Gard will keep one of Boyd, Blackwell, or Rohde on the floor for all 40 minutes. Or, they expect one of Kinzinger or Jones to step into a key role early.
Even if Carrington takes a step forward offensively — and there’s been no indication that will be the case — I don’t feel comfortable with the backcourt depth. Heck, I don’t feel comfortable with the depth at any position.
Before Carrington’s commitment, Wisconsin had two open roster spots and plenty of question marks behind the anticipated starting lineup of Nick Boyd, John Blackwell, Andrew Rohde, Austin Rapp, and Nolan Winter. The addition of Carrington hasn’t erased any of those concerns.
I doubt Gard would go 10 deep with this group, but that second unit would likely be Kinzinger, Carrington, Janicki, Bieliauskas, and Riccardo Greppi.
Is that enough to compete in the Big 10? Or possibly make the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament? I’m not sure. And considering Gard’s intent to have only 13 scholarship players and two walk-ons, I don’t know if getting an instant impact player for the 15th roster spot is possible.
To my knowledge, Isaac Gard is the only walk-on. If that’s the case, we’re essentially looking at the Badgers' final roster for the 2025-26 season. The starting five is exciting, but part of me wonders if Gard and co. spent too much, too early.