It won't come as a surprise to anyone that Wisconsin isn't bankrolling its college basketball team. Nor is it a surprise that Greg Gard's Badgers are behind his peers in NIL resources, but a new report from CBS Sports and Matt Norlander shows just how low Wisconsin actually is. It's also an alarming report of how the arms race is on, and there's no sign that it will slow down, leaving programs like Wisconsin in the dust.
Norlander's data shows that there are basically seven tiers of college basketball NIL spending, and the top tier is spending north of $20 million every season on a roster. The lowest tier spends around $5-7 million. Wisconsin finds itself in the 5th tier, a tier that estimates the average spending is $10-12 million.
There are nine Big Ten teams ahead of Wisconsin and two others in the same tier. So it's not a dire spot, but it's not ideal. The good news is, Greg Gard has embraced this underfunded role and has found ways to still be a top team in the conference year after year. His strategy is sound, and his scouting for transfer portal players is incredible.
Norlander agrees that what Gard has done is a perfect way to handle not being a top NIL school. "Wisconsin has totally modernized its offensive scheme," Norlander wrote. "It's turned guys like AJ Storr, John Tonje, John Blackwell and Nick Boyd into All-Conference performers (and made 'em a lot of money at their next stops). That proof of concept has helped the Badgers' pitch in the portal get better and better."
Greg Gard has embraced the reality that he has to take down the big teams with a smaller budget
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Gard has alluded to this recently and even has a comparison in-state. He told reporters that he sees his team and responsibility to be like the Milwaukee Brewers, "One of the smallest markets in baseball. I'm not saying we have the smallest market in college basketball, but we're not the Yankees or the Dodgers," Greg Gard said. "We have to find a way to compete with the Yankees and the Dodgers. We've done it, and we'll continue to do it."
This points to two simultaneous realities: that Wisconsin is lucky to have Gard. There are plenty of flailing coaches that can't win without more money in their pockets. There's no innovation or ability to handle the reality of the NIL without more cash. Gard has found a way to navigate this and make his teams thrive. Even creating a recruiting pitch out of it: "You can be the next Storr, Tonje, or Boyd."
However, the dark side of that coin is that Gard hasn't been able to get his team over the hump. They simply can't seem to get past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, and it's hard not to think that this NIL reality isn't part of it. That maybe with a little bit more of a competitive NIL budget, the Badgers would be flying further into the tournament.
It also shows why Gard isn't winning recruiting battles for big-time players like any of the Knueppels and is even losing some other top in-state talent. Gard has to be frugal in comparison to his peers. While he's turned it into a good thing, there's clearly a dark side too. He's being pinched to find the same success year after year with some flyer (or two) in the transfer portal.
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