Wisconsin took on its first exhibition game against Oklahoma, and while the result doesn't matter, the Sooners pulled off the nail-biting win 84-83. It was a game that both coaches spoke highly of afterwards. Wisconsin's head coach said this game was one they would learn more than 10 days' worth of practice. However, there's one player he regrets not playing more, true freshman Hayden Jones.
This is a bit of a surprising pick, as no one knew much about Jones coming into the season, and he seemed like a strong candidate for a redshirt. Also, it seems like there's been so much noise about true freshman Zach Kinziger from the recruiting class and Will Garlock (another true freshman) since arriving on campus. However, it was Jones that Gard laments not playing enough.
Greg Gard said he wanted to play Hayden Jones more.
— Evan Flood (@Evan_Flood) October 25, 2025
"That's on me. He's shown me enough."
Just three minutes for the true freshman.#Badgers
Hayden Jones figures to be part of the rotation even as a true freshman according to Gard
Related: 3 overreactions to Wisconsin basketball's nail-biter loss to Oklahoma
Three of the four true freshmen found their way into the exhibition against Oklahoma. Aleksas Bieliauskas had the most minutes at 14, and he seems to be Gard's preferred big man off the bench behind Nolan Winter and Austin Rapp. Then it was Will Garlock, who got eight minutes, who is also finding a role in the big man rotation. Finally, Jones, who only had three minutes.
Kinziger didn't find any minutes and now seems to be the most likely to use the redshirt. For the second year in a row, Wisconsin fans don't know how to read the recruiting class. The highest-rated recruit last year was Daniel Freitag, who played only briefly all season and eventually transferred. This season, it was Kinziger, and he may end up needing a year to get his feet wet.
Jones has impressed, according to Gard, and "he's shown enough" to be part of the game plan moving forward.