In the spring of 2024, the sky was falling for Badger basketball. Greg Gard and company had just been bounced from the NCAA Tournament early, and subsequently lost star players AJ Storr and Chucky Hepburn among others to the transfer portal. Things were looking bleak in Madison.
Fast forward to the mid-season point almost a year later and the Badgers are ranked No. 24 in the country with a trio of new transfers. So how do the Badgers' transfers grade out half way through their first season at Wisconsin?
After a blazing hot start, including a 41-point performance against Arizona, John Tonje has come back down to earth a little bit, but make no mistake, he's still one of the best players on the team this year. After several years at Colorado State and one injury-plagued season at Missouri, Tonje joined the Badgers with a ton of experience. He's been an offensive juggernaut for Wisconsin, posting a career and team high 18.3 points per game so far this season.
Tonje has been everything they wanted and more for the Badgers this year. He's already a fan favorite and will certainly be one of the best transfers of the year in all of college basketball.
After a lot of pre-season hype, Amos has mostly been limited to a reserve role, albeit a valuable one. The Northern Illinois transfer is still just a junior, and could prove to be a very reliable player for the Badgers with his length and ability to shoot from long range. Amos is relatively raw still, and with another year of experience, could be even better for the team next season.
Not every transfer is a John Tonje, but Amos has carved out a role and is an important piece in the Badger rotation.
Camren Hunter joined the Badgers from Central Arkansas and has yet to play any meaningful minutes this season. It's hard to knock Hunter for that though, as guards John Blackwell and Kamari McGee have absolutely been killing it at point guard this season. While many were hoping for Hunter to make a bigger impact, the reason for his absence in the lineup isn't really his poor play, it's more about the amazing play of the guys ahead of him.
With freshman Daniel Freitag waiting in the wings, it's tough to see a path forward for Hunter to get more playing time at Wisconsin. Still, you can never have too much depth, and the Badgers are loaded in the backcourt.