The Badgers added a player who can do something no one else on the team last season was capable of doing: Stuffing the paint, blocking shots, and eating up rebounds. Greg Gard went out and fixed an obvious last-season problem by adding Victory Onuaku from Hofstra. After the addition, Badger legend Sam Dekker gave a full scouting report.
Dekker played with him in the 2024-2025 season in Spain (where Onuetu played professionally for a couple of seasons). Onuetu also played with Wisconsin assistant coach Brad Davison. Dekker was most impressed with Onuetu's raw potential, physicality, and character as a person. He's fired up for Onuetu to play in Madison next season.
Had a chance to get to know & play with Victory in the 2024/25 season in Spain; he was a practice squad player for our club. His raw potential was through the roof, I couldn’t get over the physicality he brought to the floor at a young age. It made me excited to see him just… https://t.co/foHPNzmd3E
— Sam Dekker (@dekker) April 18, 2026
Victory Onuetu played with both Brad Davison and Sam Dekker in Spain
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The Wisconsin connection to Onuetu is Davison, who saw and played against him in Spain. Davison also gave a shoutout to the signing of Onuetu on social media by saying, "Boom!! Welcome to the Badger Family. Excited for Badger Nation to Watch Him Compete at the Highest Level."
The scouting report is that Onuetu can really clog up the lane and his motor for rebounds is relentless. He doesn't need to be the go-to scorer and will often dish his offensive rebounds back out to the players on the perimeter. He's not scared to score though and when he decides to throw one down, he does it with power and authority.
While he had some great games at Hofstra, the two that everyone keeps pointing to are the one against Syracuse earlier in the season and the NCAA Tournament game against Alabama. Against the Orange (a victory by the way), Onuetu had six points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks. The Crimson Tide tournament game was also impressive. Onuetu had four points, nine rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. He only played 18 minutes in that 20-point loss.
Yet many don't think he's even close to reaching his potential, and that Greg Gard may have found an incredible diamond in the rough.
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