MADISON, Wis. — There was no time for Wisconsin’s coaching staff to wallow in anguish over point guard Chucky Hepburn’s stunning decision to enter the transfer portal in April. No time to bemoan the loss of a second starter following the offseason departure of wing AJ Storr for more lucrative NIL deals at other programs.
All that mattered to Badgers coaches once those decisions were finalized was what to do next. Hepburn wasn’t coming back. Neither was Storr. Forward Tyler Wahl had used his remaining eligibility, creating another void. That meant Wisconsin needed replacements to rebuild the roster. And fast.
“There were no hard feelings,” Badgers associate head coach Joe Krabbenhoft said. “We accepted it long, long ago. It just for the first time hit our program, and I think that was hard for everybody else to understand. Internally, we knew it was coming. So we were prepared.”
What followed was a systematic approach that Wisconsin coach Greg Gard has compared to building out a pro roster. The Badgers needed a point guard, an athletic wing and a stretch forward from the transfer portal. Gard noted intentionality was critical. Wisconsin’s best teams over his 23 years in the program as both an assistant and head coach traditionally were full of experienced players, which is why he said the Badgers needed to “stay old,” even if it meant doing so in a different way.
“It’s not just throwing something against the wall and hoping they fit,” Gard said.
Assistant coach Sharif Chambliss said the staff “spent a lot of time in the war room together” evaluating its player list and watching game clips. Once the Badgers identified viable options, they had to make their pitch to players who fit their system and their budget. In the end, Wisconsin secured commitments over two weeks from point guard Camren Hunter (Central Arkansas), wing John Tonje (Missouri) and forward Xavier Amos (Northern Illinois).
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Gard has consistently harped on the value of retention in college basketball to maintain a standard of the culture already in place. The Badgers still have 10 returning players on the roster, including key contributors such as Max Klesmit, John Blackwell, Steven Crowl, Kamari McGee, Nolan Winter and Carter Gilmore.
But Wisconsin also brought in three transfers because of their capacity to immediately impact winning. And it’s the success of those three players — and how well they meld into the overall unit — that likely will determine the outlook for Wisconsin, picked to finish 12th in the 18-team Big Ten in the preseason media poll.
“Their ability to bring winning basketball to this team at a really high level is something that kind of opened my eyes right away,” Klesmit said. “They were really willing to learn and adjust from where they were coming from.”
Hunter, a 6-foot-2, 222-pound redshirt junior, started 60 games at Central Arkansas during his first two seasons there. He did not play last season due to a Jones fracture in his left foot suffered during a closed scrimmage. He spent the second half of the season working with the scout team before entering the portal.
Wisconsin landed Hunter on short notice. Hunter arrived for his visit straight from a campus trip to Saint Louis — he said he took an Uber to the mall for a change of clothes before boarding his flight — and with only two days of communication from Wisconsin’s coaching staff. The opportunity to compete in the Big Ten intrigued him enough to sign with the Badgers. Hunter is part of a point guard competition with McGee, freshman Daniel Freitag and potentially Blackwell. But some key traits about his game already stand out.
Krabbenhoft said Wisconsin didn’t have time to waste to get a player physically ready for the Big Ten, and Hunter fits the bill. Gard has described Hunter as a “bulldog,” and Klesmit compared him to Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson, a fellow left-hander whose physical playing style allows him to get to the rim. According to CBB Analytics, 31.9 percent of Hunter’s field goal attempts during his sophomore season came from within 4.5 feet of the rim, and 51.7 percent of his shots were taken in the paint. He connected on just 31.1 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Hunter showcased his strength, passing ability and tough defense during an open practice last week. In a 3-on-3 half-court drill, he drove the lane, picked up his dribble, and demonstrated patience and body control to score. He later drove down the lane and finished over forward Chris Hodges at the rim. Defensively, Hunter forced a McGee miss in the lane and knocked the ball away from Winter for a turnover.
“I can get down in there and rebound with the best of them as well as I can defend with the best of them,” Hunter said. “I think my biggest thing is doing whatever I need to do to help this team win, and that’s just being consistent.”
John Tonje has played in 130 career games with 50 starts over stints at Colorado State and Missouri. (Nolan Kromke / Wisconsin Athletics)
Tonje initially committed out of the portal to New Mexico before having what he said was “a change of heart” when Wisconsin pursued him through relationships Chambliss and Krabbenhoft had with Colorado State coach Brian Cooley. Tonje is a sixth-year senior who was limited to just eight games at Missouri last season because of a foot injury. Two seasons ago, he averaged 14.6 points per game while at Colorado State. Gard said Tonje “brings not only a grown man’s body but a grown man’s brain and maturity.”
Tonje, at 6-5, has the size, strength, athleticism and skill to be a three-level scorer for Wisconsin. Hunter called Tonje “one of the most physical guys I’ve ever seen.” Last week, Tonje buried a 3-pointer from the right corner in 3-on-3 and on the next play drove strong to finish at the rim despite McGee wrapping him up in the lane, which drew a high five from Krabbenhoft. Tonje created space in the lane to hit a short jump shot in 5-on-5 and made a pull-up 3 from the left wing off a fast-break pass from Freitag.
“I’ve had a lot of time to learn the game, especially in this past year, looking at some of the film from my Colorado State days,” Tonje said. “I’m shooting for way past that.”
Amos, meanwhile, is a junior who visited only Wisconsin but said he spoke to coaches from Texas, Kansas, Illinois, Nebraska and Virginia, among others. He produced a breakout sophomore season for Northern Illinois when he started 25 games and averaged 13.8 points per game and a team-high 5.8 rebounds. He missed six games because of a back injury.
Amos’ versatility was one of the surprises to emerge from summer workouts because he showed coaches that he could handle the ball well and potentially play some on the wing. He is a much different player than Wahl, who was more physical but less adept at long-range shooting. Amos pencils in as a stretch 4 at 6-7 because he made 38.5 percent of his 3-point attempts last season (Wahl made 23.2 percent from 3 in his career). That skill set could free up Crowl more in the paint. Amos also has the ability to guard multiple positions, which will help the Badgers.
Gard still has more than three weeks before he needs to determine his starting lineup for the season opener Nov. 4 against Holy Cross. He acknowledged he has a variety of options to wade through. But after a chaotic offseason, he’s hoping all three transfers can bring some much-needed calm — and wins — to the program.
“Those three have been terrific,” Gard said. “Right from the beginning, they’ve jumped in and there’s been learning curves for all three of them at times. But I’m happy with where they’re at. I think they all can add something to us.”
(Top photo of Camren Hunter: Nolan Kromke / Wisconsin Athletics)
