With the departure of Carter Gilmore, Markus Ilver, and, most notably, Steven Crowl to graduation, the Wisconsin Badgers needed to find a forward in the transfer portal to complement Nolan Winter. One day after securing Andrew Rohde from Virginia, the Badgers landed their second transfer in two days, as West Coast Conference (WCC) Freshman of the Year Austin Rapp committed to the Badgers.
Portland forward Austin Rapp transfers to Wisconsin with three years of eligibility
Let’s gooo @BadgerMBB ❤️ https://t.co/ih4tKDgD3D
— austin rapp (@austinrappp) April 4, 2025
A 6’ 10’’ power forward, Rapp enjoyed a splendid season at Portland. The freshman big man from Melbourne, Australia, scored 13.8 PPG, ranked 11th in the WCC. He also finished with a team-leading 6.5 RPG and 1.5 BPG.
Wisconsin’s offense this season utilized stretch fours, such as Winter and Xavier Amos, and that style plays well into Rapp’s game. Rapp is not afraid to shoot from behind the three-point line, where he shot 35.2% in 2024-25.
Despite playing on a 12-20 Pilots’ basketball team this season, Rapp garnered interest from other notable Big Ten programs. Iowa, Michigan, and Oregon were among Rapp’s finalists, along with Clemson. Earlier in the week, the Badgers were able to give Rapp a campus visit, which no doubt helped seal the deal.
Portal target Austin Rapp is currently in Madison. https://t.co/R6odG4LJa6 pic.twitter.com/W8aMCcsFNS
— Jon McNamara (@McNamaraRivals) March 31, 2025
One area of concern for Rapp is his two-point field goal percentage, but he does a great job finishing at the rim. From Kedrick Stumbris of Athlon Sports:
”Although he only shot 49.0% on twos, Rapp made 58.6% of his 70 attempts at the rim, according to BartTorvik. As a team this past season, Wisconsin connected on 55.2% of its shots from two - in large part due to Gard’s philosophy of limiting shots in the mid-range. If Rapp were to increase his attempts at the rim and limit his twos shot further out after attempting 30 as a freshman, he could excel in Madison.”
One of the question marks for next season’s Badgers squad was replacing Crowl in the starting lineup. By landing Rapp, the Badgers fortified their front court with a young forward with upside.