2024-2025 College Basketball Preview: Wisconsin Badgers

Check out our entire college basketball season preview!

The college basketball season is less than three weeks away, and here at FTN Fantasy we have you covered for what promises to be another thrilling year of upsets and incredible finishes. I will be taking you around the country with a betting preview of the major conferences. I recap the betting trends from last season, list projected starters, preview the season, identify a key player, and reveal how I’m backing or fading each team.

Let’s continue with the largest conference in college basketball, the Big Ten. This conference underwent massive changes, adding four new teams from the Pac-12 in Washington, USC, Oregon and UCLA. The expansion has not diluted the competitive level of the Big Ten, ranking third (same as last year) in KenPom preseason rankings.

Let’s check out our betting preview for the Wisconsin Badgers. I give a huge shout-out to our newest contributor, Gus Kearns, for his extensive research on the Big Ten.

2024-2025 College Basketball Season Preview: Wisconsin Badgers

Conference: Big Ten
Head Coach:  Greg Gard (10th Season)
2023-2024 Record:  25-8 (15-5)
ATS:  16-19-1
O/U:  23-13
Projected Starters: G Camren Hunter; G Max Klesmit; G John Blackwell; F Xavier Amos; C Steven Crowl

Wisconsin lurked on the precipice of the national spotlight all season. The Badgers snuck into the Top 10, whispers of “trendy final four team” grew louder and images of challenging Purdue for the Big Ten title grew out of the shadows. Wisconsin had it humming with wins over a ranked Virginia squad and Marquette, then the grind started to wear inside the brutal Big Ten. The Badgers dropped eight of 11 games inside the conference to end the regular season. Wisconsin answered with a run to the title game in the Big Ten Tournament, but succumbed (as so many teams did) to an offensive barrage by Illinois’ Terrence Shannon (34 points). They were rewarded with the dreaded 5 vs. 12 matchup against one of the darlings of the 2023-2024 basketball season, James Madison, and were down 33-16 before the game reached halftime. 

Wisconsin returns two top senior scorers in 7-foot Steven Crowl (11.2 PPG) and guard Max Klesmit (9.9 PPG). Klesmit has an eye for late-game heroics, and Crowl is your prototypical Badger big: skilled, horizontal and efficient. Sophomore John Blackwell (8.8 PPG, 46% 3P) is a candidate to take a big step forward after a solid freshman season. Xavier Amos is a lengthy transfer from Northern Illinois who can score (13.8 PPG), shoot (39% 3P) and defend (1.5 BPG). Transfer John Tonje (Mizzou and Colorado State) received a sixth year of eligibility after a foot injury and brings elite 3P marksmanship (37% 3P on 377 career attempts) to Madison for his final season. The key is the ability for point guard Camren Hunter’s production to transfer from Central Arkansas. He missed all of last season with a foot injury but averaged 16.9 PPG and 1.5 SPG in his sophomore season with the Bears. Freshmen might actually find the floor for the Badgers this season, with Daniel Freitag, Jack Robinson and Riccardo Greppi (Italy) all candidates for a neophyte impact.

Key Player: John Blackwell/Camren Hunter

The loss of AJ Storr is huge for Wisconsin, as he brought that unique ability to get a basket whenever the Badgers started to struggle. Now landing in Kansas, Storr proves that Wisconsin lost an elite player who had much greater upside than his 16.8 PPG in the methodical Badgers’ system. Wisconsin lost four-star recruit Gus Yalden after this redshirt yet, but Blackwell played well beyond his three-star recruit ranking. Wisconsin needs Hunter to push the pace (without turnovers) and Blackwell to score. Amos, Klesmit and Crowl are great complementary pieces if not asked to do too much.