UW likely to look much younger next season
MADISON – The start of the 2021-22 men’s college basketball season is months away, but we do know this about the composition of Wisconsin’s team:
The Badgers will be decidedly younger than they were this season and we should learn about the strength of their 2020 and ‘21 classes.
Six seniors played in UW’s 76-63 loss to Baylor in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. Coach Greg Gard declined to speculate whether any of the six will take advantage of the NCAA’s rule
allowing them to return in 2021-22.
“I’ll give them some time to…let the emotional sting of all this, of the finality of a season, dissipate a little bit,” he said. “And then I’ll get a chance to talk to them.”
All signs point to D’Mitrik Trice, Nate Reuvers, Micah Potter and Aleem Ford moving on. The best bet to return is guard Brad Davison, with fellow guard Trevor Anderson a potential returnee.
UW’s staff is expected to explore the burgeoning transfer market. Whether the Badgers add a veteran guard or frontcourt player, several key players will be in their first or second season in the program in 2021-22.
The most experienced member of the ’20 class will be Jonathan Davis, who played in all 31 games this season. He contributed 10 points and two rebounds in 23 minutes in the loss to Baylor and finished the season averaging 7.0 points and 4.1 rebounds and shooting 38.9% from threepoint range and 44.1% overall.
Davis is already a terrific rebounder and should be a more consistent defender next season. He can create a shot when the offense bogs down and should be a double-digit scorer next season.
Forwards Ben Carlson and Steven Crowl are among those players who need a full off-season of work. Carlson was limited to seven games (64 minutes) because of an upper-body injury. Crowl played in only 12 games (36 minutes) largely because of UW’s experienced frontcourt.
Can either guard Jordan Davis (19 minutes) or forward Carter Gilmore (17 minutes) develop into rotational players?
The Badgers are set to add four freshmen next season – guard Chucky Hepburn and forwards Matthew Mors, Chris Hodges and Markus Ilver.
Guard Lorne Bowman II, a member of the 2020 class, will be in his first full year next season. He left school last fall to deal with a family issue and is set to rejoin the program in June.
Hepburn and Bowman have the potential to become a dynamic guard tandem at some point. But the return of Davison, a four-year starter, would help ease their transition and give UW a steady hand on the court and in the locker room.
The staff believes the players in the 2020 and ’21 class will help keep UW competitive in the Big Ten.
However, as of today the most experienced player certain to return next season is forward Tyler Wahl, who has played in 62 games. Wahl started 18 of 31 games this season and averaged 5.3 points and 4.2 rebounds.
Wahl is a pest on defense and rebounds with abandon, but until he becomes a more consistent offensive threat teams will be able to sag off him and focus on others.
Trice offered his thoughts on the team’s needs for next season.
“The guys that are here now, Johnny (Davis), T-Wahl, Steven (Crowl) and a couple other freshmen obviously got a little taste of it,” he said. “Those guys are going to be the leaders of the team next year...and are going to have to step up in a major way next year with us losing a lot of seniors.”
Gard said the seniors who played Sunday against Baylor have had a big impact on the program.
“I think the older guys have done a really good job of putting the culture in the right spot and helping the younger guys,” he said, “and that was the intention behind having a bigger younger group coming, kind of in the wings learning from these guys.
“They know there’s going to be a lot of work. The older guys didn’t get to this point by taking it easy.”
The players were deprived of a full offseason of training after the 2019-20 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gard hopes the players who return next season and the freshmen set to join the program in June won’t have to deal with a similar issue.
“There’s going to be a lot of work they’re going to have to do in the off-season, starting with spring workouts and strength and conditioning, into the summer,” he said. “And hopefully we can get back to some sense of normalcy in terms of off-season training, which I think was key for us that we didn’t have it last year or this past summer.
“The off-season is huge for everybody. It’s ginormous for our program. We have to have that off-season strength and conditioning component. Not only just summer but spring and into the fall in hopefully a normal pattern where we can really help these guys prepare for what’s coming.”