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For all of the excitement Wisconsin basketball has produced the past few seasons, the Badgers have struggled to get over the hump and earn legitimate consideration as serious national contenders.
Take the 2025-26 campaign – Wisconsin deployed arguably the best backcourt duo in the nation between Nick Boyd and John Blackwell, each of whom averaged 20 points per game and orchestrated the No. 10-ranked offense in the country, per KenPom. The team rattled off five straight wins over top-15 teams, including two road upsets over top-10 teams (No. 2 Michigan, No. 8 Illinois) before ultimately losing in the Round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament.
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The year prior, unheralded transfer wing John Tonje exploded onto the national scene and became an All-American, powering another high-flying Wisconsin offense that ultimately fell in the second round of March Madness.
So why is Wisconsin basketball so thrilling all of the sudden? The Badgers have a new-look, overseas-inspired, up-tempo offense that places a premium on three-point shooting and athletic, downhill guards that can pressure the rim. Initially implemented by former assistant coach Kirk Penny, the offensive revolution has only snowballed each year in Madison.
The Badgers have consistently taken more three-pointers in each of the past three-seasons, and consistently increased their offensive pace as well. The system caters to the dynamic backcourt players they’ve managed to land, and the result has been some of the most electrifying offenses in the nation the past three years.
Still, in order to field these kinds of teams, Wisconsin has needed to pull elite, extremely high-upside athletic guards out of the transfer portal to fill out its backcourt. For all of the Badgers’ explosive guard play in recent years, the only true home-grown star has been John Blackwell – and he’s very much an exception to the rule.
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Wisconsin has struggled to recruit the kind of high school guards capable of operating in and…
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Publish date : 2026-06-26 20:24:00
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