The Wisconsin women's basketball program has been rebuilt with remarkable speed as Pingeton has added another player to the 2025 roster—this time from high school recruiting. Nikki Kerstein is Wisconsin's first recruit to commit to Pingeton and will join Wisconsin as soon as she finishes her high school season.
Nikki Kerstein star high school point guard, has committed to Wisconsin women's basketball
Nikki Kerstein is a 3-star point guard out of Lombard, Illinois, who has been a long-time commit to Pingeton but at Missouri. As soon as Pingeton left Missouri, Kerstein's recruitment became a bit more up in the air, and in the last couple of weeks, the future became more clear. Kerstein, wanting to play for Pingeton and, in her offensive system, decided to stay with her and come to Wisconsin instead.
This is an essential addition for Wisconsin as it's Pingeton's first recruit (who wasn't already committed to Wisconsin). It's also crucial for the roster as the point guard of the future has been identified and will get plenty of opportunities to score in the Big Ten as soon as this season.
Kerstein is an impressive player and was a nominee for Ms. Illinois Basketball, an award given to the best women's high school basketball player in the state of Illinois. In her high school career, she averaged 18.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 3.4 steals per game. She is as about as highly decorated as a player can get: She was voted all four seasons as IBCA All-State, twice she won first-team honors, and in 2025, she took her team to state and won it.
Kerstein is a rising star, and it is an impressive way for Pingeton to start her recruiting at Wisconsin, which has been desperately lacking over the last few years. Pingeton has now down it in the transfer portal multiple times and now in the high school recruiting world.