Wisconsin has now lost their third player to the transfer portal since it opened a little over a week ago. This time it's forward Chris Hodges according to Verbal Commits, who leaves the Badgers after four years in red and white.
Chris Hodges to leave Wisconsin for final year of eligibility
Hodges, who first joined Wisconsin in 2021, has played sparingly throughout his career in Madison. He appeared in 15 games this year, but only logged 16 minutes and 1 point. Originally a three-star recruit out of Illinois, Hodges redshirted his first year, but never found much traction with the team. He'll now enter the portal as a graduate transfer in hopes of seeing more playing time elsewhere.
Losing Hodges won't affect Greg Gard and the Badgers too much from a pure basketball standpoint. But Gard really has his work cut out for him this offseason after seeing six seniors graduate, and now a third player entering the portal after guards Camren Hunter and Daniel Freitag submitted their names earlier this week. Wisconsin will need to replace over 50% of their roster with incoming freshman and transfers.
Overall, the portal has been relatively kind to the Badgers so far as they have yet to lose a major contributor. Freitag, Hunter and Hodges were once again going to be limited to reserve roles, and they'll head elsewhere to try and find some more playing time. As of now, every indication is that starters John Blackwell and Nolan Winter will remain with the team, and will be a huge part of the 2025 squad.