The Wisconsin Badgers have had a very active offseason in terms of the transfer portal. It's been mostly net positive, as they've added huge transfer portal pickups and only lost reserve or bench pieces. The biggest loss so far was when Xavier Amos decided to move on, which made all eyes shift to freshman big man Riccardo Greppi, who will be asked to take on a bigger role in his sophomore season.
Wisconsin fans were curious if he would move to another location, as he barely played last season for the Badgers, appearing in only 9 games and averaging 2.3 minutes. This is usually a recipe across college basketball for hitting the transfer portal. However, there's good news: It looks like Greppi is committed to developing in the Greg Gard system and running back for at least another season.
#Badgers reserve big Riccardo Greppi seemingly confirming his return to Madison via Instagram, "Let's run it back." pic.twitter.com/0JzInrLK1m
— Kedrick Stumbris (@KedrickStumbris) April 9, 2025
Riccardo Greppi posts on social media, "Let's run it back." Confirming another year at Wisconsin
It may help that Greppi didn't come to Wisconsin expecting to have a huge role in his freshman season. He knew going into last year that he was going to spend most of the year developing his talents and getting better to compete in the Big Ten. He didn't have his eyes set on big minutes or a starter role. He fully expected what the outcome ended up being.
That helps, as now he will be asked to take on a bigger role. If he has truly developed in his game, he may see an Amos-type role next season. He should play consistently off the bench and provide much-needed depth behind the other bigs on the roster.
As they often say, sometimes the best transfer portal additions are the ones you retain. This is the case for Jack Janicki, Nolan Winter, John Blackwell (if he doesn't end up in the NBA), and now Riccardo Greppi.