Greg Gard has freshman Hayden Jones ready to fill the role of Andrew Rohde next season. He's been prepared for it, prepped for it, given experience with it, and really became a glue guy by the end of the season. He also already has a replacement for Jones, backup role too. But first, what is Jones stepping into?
Rohde had a very clear role this season for Greg Gard and the Wisconsin Badgers. He was the '3 and D' as it is often named. A wing that helped mostly on the defensive end but could help swing the ball around the perimeter and take the shot when it was open. He contributed in other ways, but this was his role. Now he's out of eligibility, and someone will need to step into his role. Gard already has the player on the roster.
Hayden Jones is ready to take over for Andrew Rohde next season
Related: Another former Wisconsin Badger guard enters the transfer portal a second time
Many think Gard will go to the transfer portal to replace Rohde; in fact, we talked about that exact idea yesterday. You can read about a homerun transfer portal wing here. But the more we think about it, the more it seems that Gard may just let one of his freshmen take the role. There could be even two options, but one makes more sense than the other... Hayden Jones.
The other could be Zach Kinziger, who has a great shot and really could take a big step this next season. However, if you work with only the roles each had during the season. Jones would more likely slide into the Rohde vacancy and Kinziger would then be what Jones was this season. The backup behind the starter.
Jones even started one game last year and ended the season averaging 7.1 minutes, and surprisingly saw nearly 10 minutes per game in the Big Ten Tournament. He seems like he's lined up for a bigger role next season.
Gard very well could grab another player out of the portal, and he will need to at least get one wing from it, as Braeden Carrington is also done with his eligibility. However, don't be surprised to see Jones as the featured player in that position while Gard loads up out of the portal in other ways.