The Wisconsin Badgers seem to be cleaning up the portal for all their biggest needs. They've added three really important transfers in Austin Rapp, Andrew Rohde, and Nick Boyd. They've also retained Nolan Winter, Jack Janicki, and potentially John Blackwell if he decides to wait a year on the NBA. They've also done a decent job of only letting players who weren't part of the future walk. The Badgers have only lost Camren Hunter, Daniel Freitag, and Chris Hodges.
However, today, it seems like one surprise is hitting the Wisconsin Badgers: the departure of Xavier Amos, aka X-Factor, who really seemed to find a solid role for UW down the stretch and into the tournament.
Xavier Amos is transferring out of the Wisconsin Badgers and seeking a new college home
Xavier Amos averaged 3.5 points and 1.8 rebounds on 9.7 minutes per game. He was a solid depth piece for Greg Gard and the Badgers. He came in when necessary and made a few really solid contributions throughout the season. He also really started to find a solid role with more playing time during the end of the season through the Big Ten Tournament and into the NCAA Tournament. He played a total of 13 minutes against the Montana Grizzlies in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
While this isn't a huge loss for the Badgers, it's still a frustrating one as he would have had a similar role next year: helping off the bench, giving players rest during long stretches of the season, and helping throughout the week with game prep.
Greg Gard has been honest with his players this offseason about their roles next year. One of the reasons Daniel Freitag knew it was time to move on is that Gard said Freitag would have a very similar role next year (which was barely). Maybe the same conversation happened with Amos, and Amos would rather get more starter minutes somewhere else for his senior season. Or he could have decided to move on for another reason.
This will be Amos' third team in his time in college. He started his career at Northern Illinois.