The Wisconsin basketball season can't come soon enough, and as the Badgers are less than a week away from the Red-White scrimmage, Greg Gard took the podium to talk about the upcoming season. One of the most exciting things he said was what they've seen from their true freshman center, Will Garlock.
He remarked about how blown away his staff has been by the recent high school graduate. He said, "He's probably one of the four new guys who's caught everyone on the staff by surprise." Gard goes on to say, "He's further along than I thought he would be."
Gard says Will Garlock "caught everybody on the staff by surprise." Further along than expected. Says he's taking some big jumps since June.
— Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) October 13, 2025
Big man depth just got good news with the emergence of true freshman Will Garlock
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Gard said the test for Garlock will be live action. He wants to see how the true freshman responds to a real opponent and not just his teammates in practice. That first time he checks into the game will be a big test.
This is good news for the depth of Wisconsin's frontcourt, as the depth behind Nolan Winter and Austin Rapp was pretty unknown. None of the forwards/centers on the roster behind those two have significant college experience. The closest in terms of age and experience may be either international recruit Aleksas Bieliauskas. He's also a true freshman, but he's been playing for the U20 FIBA Lithuania team.
There's also Riccardo Greppi, who has spent a year learning under the Wisconsin system and is now ready to step into the rotation. However, the emergence of Garlock may shake up some of these expectations.
Fans didn't expect much from Garlock this season, so if he turns out to be a surprising player on the court and for the season, especially in terms of big man depth, it could help Wisconsin make some noise in the Big Ten and the NCAA Tournament.