There's been a consistent theme coming out of Wisconsin Badger basketball this offseason about new point guard Owen Foxwell. That he's really good but he's also really different than Wisconsin's last point guard, Nick Boyd. Each plays the position of point guard but attack it from very different angles. Nolan Winter actually has a flashback comparison for Foxwell, comparing him to former Badger Chucky Hepburn.
Boyd has a scorer's instinct and a trash-talker's personality. Foxwell is known for his defense and for facilitating the basketball. Not that he can't call his own number and take a shot or flash to the hoop; he just isn't known for it.
Winter likens Foxwell to Hepburn: "Owen and Chucky, they are both creative on the defensive end." Winter said, "Being able to jump passing lanes, being able to get timely steals when we need them, being a strong perimeter guard that we need on the defensive side of things. Those things are pretty similar. And then offensively: Being able to find guys, knock down open threes when need be, get to the rim, and just find guys in the right spots."
Nolan Winter on some similarities between current #Badgers point guard Owen Foxwell and former Badger Chucky Hepburn: pic.twitter.com/9XojSFeB7m
— John Steppe (@JSteppe1) October 8, 2026
Owen Foxwell is bringing a Chucky Hepburn vibe back to Madison but even better
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Hepburn was a Wisconsin star for three seasons before he finished off his college career at Louisville. He's now on the Toronto Raptors, trying to make the NBA roster and not end up in the G League. As a Badger, he was really good but also needed some development to really turn into a star.
His first season in Madison, Hepburn averaged 7.9 points and 2.3 assists per game. Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard got him to take a big jump his sophomore year when he averaged 12.2 points and 2.8 assists per game. He also averaged 1.5 steals per game that season. In his final year for Wisconsin, he really hit his stride as the point guard, as Nolan Winter remembers him. He only averaged 9.2 points, but his assists were way up to 3.9 per game, and he was getting 2.1 steals per game.
Foxwell doesn't need development, as he's been a professional in one of the top international leagues in the world (Australia's NBL). He averaged 10.8 points, 4.5 assists, and 1.3 steals.
Winter is right; it's hard not to see, even in the stats, a comparison between the two, but the good news for Wisconsin fans is that Foxwell is going to come in already ready to go. It won't take three years to get him there, only to see him use his final and best season in Louisville. Foxwell probably only has one season to play college basketball, and he's going to give the Badgers his best this season.
If his stats are anything like final-year Chucky Hepburn in Louisville or anything as he averaged in the NBL, this season is going to be really special for both the Badgers and Foxwell.
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