Wisconsin’s Greg Gard proud of Garding Against Cancer’s impact
The Badgers coach spoke to reporters before the eighth-annual Garding Against Cancer fundraiser May 2 at the Kohl Center.
MADISON – When Wisconsin men’s basketball coach Greg Gard summed up his transfer portal class for the 2025-26 season one word stood out.
Experience.
The Badgers lost six players who completed their eligibility after this past season. That level of experience is difficult to completely replace, but Gard and his staff did about as well as possible.
In guards Andrew Rohde, Nick Boyd and Braeden Carrington, Wisconsin added three senior-eligible players who combined for 293 games of experience.
“That was important, to be able to bring guys in who had experience because we lose a lot of experience,” Gard said.
Gard spoke to reporters before the eighth-annual ‘Garding Against Cancer’ fundraiser at the Kohl Center. The event attracted more than 600 guests and featured Michigan State coach Tom Izzo as the guest speaker.
The event comes during what has become a busy time for college basketball coaches. Roster building is still in the works for most programs.
Wisconsin has 14 players in place for 2025-26 with one spot to fill.
One of those players is another key portal pickup, Austin Rapp, a 6-10 forward who was the West Coast Conference freshman of the year at Portland this past season.
Steven Crowl, a 7-footer who completed his eligibility, was a 41.6% three-point shooter.
Rapp offers the element of another big in addition to Nolan Winter who can shoot threes. Rapp was a 35.2% shooter (83 of 236) as a freshman, taking three times as many threes as Crowl did last season
“He fits with who we are,” Gard said.
The Badgers also received a commitment from a big who can shoot: Aleksas Bieliauskas, a 6-11 incoming freshman forward from Lithuania.
The Badgers class came together quickly
All of Wisconsin’s additions were announced within three weeks in April and within one month and one day of the team’s season-ending loss to BYU in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
One of the keys to UW’s success last season was its chemistry, which didn’t suffer despite seven newcomers that included three portal pickups.
The team next season will have at least four portal pickups. As was the case last season, Gard and his staff relied on connections to get as good of a feel on those players as possible.
Rohde was recruited by UW at Brookfield Central High School as well as after he entered the portal after his freshman season at St. Thomas. Gard and his staff watched Carrington during his high school days in the Twin Cities and during his first two seasons at Minnesota. He played at Tulsa last season for Amherst native Eric Konkol and former UW assistant Duffy Conroy, two coaches Gard knows well. And some intel from St. Mary’s coach Randy Bennett helped Gard gain better insight into Rapp.
When it comes to the portal, you take good information where ever it can be found.
“A lot of research, a lot of phone calls,” Gard said. “You’re trying to rely on relationships.
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