Badgers Sign Italian Big Man Ahead of 2024-25 Season

The Badgers have gone international again. Greg Gard has already brought in Hayden Jones of New Zealand for the 2025 class, and this time it's a big man from Italy for 2024. Center Riccardo Greppi will join the Badgers for this upcoming season.

This move likely is due to the issues Serbian center Andrija Vukovic has had getting to Madison. He had previously signed on to join the Badgers back in June, but it appears that won't happen after all. According to Evan Flood of 247Sports, Greppi was actually set to play for Temple, but flipped when Vukovic was unable to suit up for the Badgers this season.

The 6-10 center most recently played for Verona in the Italy-NextGen league. He averaged 9.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Greg Gard was drawn to his abilities to improve the Badger frontcourt, which was in need of some more depth.

"We are excited to add Riccardo to our program," Gard said in a statement. "With his size, strength and skillset, he adds great depth to our frontcourt. As the landscape of college athletics continues to shift, we are in a strong position here at Wisconsin – both academically and athletically – to attract some of the best student-athletes in the world. Riccardo will be a great fit with our program. We look forward to getting him here with us soon at Wisconsin and welcoming him to the Badger Family."

Greppi will provide some additional depth behind Steven Crowl and Nolan Winter, and will join Daniel Freitag and Jack Robison as the three freshman for the Badgers this year.