The Wisconsin Badgers will be looking to reload this offseason as they watch three of their top players graduate: Nick Boyd, Andrew Rohde, and Braeden Carrington. However, what Wisconsin needs to find in the portal is not that complicated. If Greg Gard can retain both John Blackwell and Nolan Winter again this offseason, there are only three spots he has to fill in the portal. He can rest after that.
Now, that's a big IF, retaining Blackwell and Winter, but we have to start there. It gets a lot more complicated if one or both of them walk this offseason. Here are the three positions Wisconsin needs to find in the portal:
Point Guard
There really isn't anyone behind Nick Boyd. No one else really even played the position this season, and when Nick Boyd was on the bench, point guard was run by committee. Blackwell sometimes did it; we saw both Carrington and even Rohde helping there. Gard has to land a point guard. It may not be a Nick Boyd type; those are rare, but there needs to be someone with a little bit of juice.
Small Forward - "3 and D"
Rohde played his role exceptionally well this season. He was never in the spotlight but had the ability to drop a few threes and was exceptional on the defensive end. Gard will be looking for a similar type of player to plug into the starting lineup.
Center - Rim-Protector
We've already written about this a little bit, but Wisconsin desperately needed a force down low this season. A rim-protector on defense and an offensive rebounder on offense. That would have been game-changing in many of the most important games, including beating High Point in the NCAA Tournament.
If Gard can land these three players, that will make it so there's actually legitimate depth off the bench. The starting lineup will look like:
Portal PG
John Blackwell
Portal SF
Nolan Winter
Portal C
The bench would then be, and this is why Gard doesn't have to work too hard after those three, because the bench is now stacked (if no players transfer out).
Austin Rapp
Aleksas Bieliauskas
Jack Janicki
Will Garlock
Hayden Jones
Jackson Ball
LaTrevion Fenderson
That's a team that can go deep and has a chance to really make some noise. But Gard has to start with those three portal pickups and retain the rest.