Nolan Winter and John Blackwell make their intentions with Wisconsin explicitly clear

Since January, there's been a lot of talk about how the transfer portal was going to shake out for the Wisconsin Badgers in the offseason. The biggest priorities for fans and the coaching staff were to make sure star sophomores John Blackwell and Nolan Winter did not jump into it. They could probably command some big NIL numbers, and Wisconsin didn't even want to see them go shopping.

John Blackwell posted on social media after the loss to BYU in the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament about coming back next year. Nolan Winter also mentioned "next year" in a social media post by the Wisconsin basketball team. However, in a wonderfully well-written column by Jim Polzin on Madison.com, they both made their intentions for Wisconsin explicitly clear.

Nolan Winter and John Blackwell both declare their desire to be Badgers for life.

Jim Polzin talked with both of them about their dads, who played in the Big Ten but in a completely different era. Glynn Blackwell played for Illinois from 1984 to 1988, and Trevor Winter played at Minnesota from 1993 to 1997. Now, the NIL and the transfer portal are a reality, and it's easy to jump ship and move around. However, neither John Blackwell nor Nolan Winter are interested in that path. They want to stay at Wisconsin for their whole careers.

According to Polzin's article, which is a must read, Blackwell said:

"I'm going to be a Badger for life. I want to be remembered as a legend here. I want to be remembered as a guy who stuck around, who's been through all this madness and business. "

John Blackwell

And Nolan Winter also said a similar thing:

"I've kind of got my dad's blood where you're with a school for four years when you sign...I've got four years here and I'm going to enjoy every year of it. "

Nolan Winter

This is huge for the Badgers as those two are important building blocks for the incoming 2025-2026 season. Read the full article from Polzin here; there's so much more to enjoy as a Badger fan.