Is Greg Gard Doing Enough in the Transfer Portal?

Since the season ended with UConn cutting down the nets, the transfer portal has been set ablaze. There will be nearly 2,000 players in the portal by the deadline and so far six of them are now former Badgers. It's early, but without a new transfer coming yet, is Greg Gard doing the right things?

Last year, Gard nabbed St. John's transfer AJ Storr, who only went on to be the Badgers leading scorer and 2nd All-Big Ten. It was a huge get for the program and Storr was as advertised. Only a year later, Storr and five others have entered their names in the portal. Joining Storr are Connor Essegian, Luke Haertle, Issac Lindsey, Ross Candelino and Gus Yalden. The Badgers have yet to lure a new transfer into the program.

There's still time and Gard has proved he can recruit some big names, but you would have liked to see at least one player commit to the Badgers at this point to sleep a little better at night. Wisconsin has been linked to plenty of names, including Frankie Fidler from Omaha who named the Badgers as one of his top schools, but no one has signed on the dotted line as of now.

Gard's recent dismissal of assistant coach Dean Oliver seemed to signal that he was going to take the NIL and portal approach much more seriously. Oliver is listed by 247Sports as the lead recruiter for only four Badgers, and none have been huge impacts. Gard will always take the lead on recruiting, but bringing in a new assistant with powerful ties could help bring in the much needed talent from the portal.

With six out and zero in so far, the Greg Gard and the Badgers need to get moving. Whether Gard handles the load himself or brings in a new assistant to help, fans would feel a lot better with just one player to bring his talents to Madison sooner rather than later.