After a long offseason, the Kohl Center is set to hold the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team’s first regular season game on Nov 3. against the Campbell Camels.
Campbell, located in Buies Creek, NC is in the midst of a rebuild led by first-year head coach John Andrzejek. Andrzejek was an assistant coach for the last two years at Florida, where he won a national championship. Campbell hired him in hopes of bringing a winning culture to the team, which hasn’t made an NCAA Tournament appearance since 1992.
The Camels have just four returning players, one standout being senior guard Cam Gregory, who averaged 7.8 points per game and started 31 out of the team’s 32 games. The Camels finished last season 15-17 (10-8 in Coastal Athletic Conference).
The Badgers enter the season following a 27-10 (13-7 Big Ten) year that ended in a heartbreaking loss against BYU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Star guard John Tonje missed a shot at the buzzer that would have tied the game]. Wisconsin is now without Tonje, but expectations are still high. The Badgers split their two exhibition games — losing narrowly to the Oklahoma Sooners 84-83 and beating the UW-Platteville Pioneers 69-53— and are ranked No. 24 in the AP preseason poll — their first preseason ranking since the 2020-21 season.
The Badger starting five will most likely consist of senior guard Nick Boyd, junior guard John Blackwell, senior wing Andrew Rohde, sophomore forward Austin Rapp and junior forward Nolan Winter. This is an athletic, fast-paced lineup designed for the pick and roll at the top of the key, ultimately resulting in a mismatch in the paint, leaving easy scoring opportunities for Rapp and Winter. The primary ball handler for the Badgers figures to be Boyd, with Blackwell also taking the point at times.
While the Badgers’ three-point shooting was shaky in the preseason — where they shot 10-31 against the Sooners and just 6-25 against the Pioneers— everyone in the starting five is more than capable of taking a three if necessary.
Another key component for the Badgers is their size. Campbell will find it hard to handle a 6’10” or taller player in the paint every possession on defense and offense. Seven foot freshman Will Garlock and freshman Aleksas Bieliauskas, a stretch four from Lithuania, filled in for the frontcourt off the bench in the preseason and should make their debuts against the Camels. Although the Camels aren't undersized, they do not have the height and strength to match up evenly against Wisconsin’s frontcourt. Campbell freshman Daniel Marcellinus stands a 6’11”, making him the tallest player on the team.
Another contributor off the Wisconsin bench is freshman Hayden Jones. The 6’6” guard has been the primary ball handler for the Badgers when in the game. He knocked down a corner three against UW-Plateville in their last scrimmage.
In these exhibition games, we saw promise from various new and returning faces. One in particular being the sophomore transfer Rapp. Rapp averaged 13.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game his freshman year at Portland. He was also named West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year.
Rapp’s first minutes with the Badgers have been positive. Through his first two exhibition contests with the Badgers, he averaged 15.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Rapp has displayed his lethal ability from behind the arc alongside his defensive presence in the paint. Being 6 '10, he uses his height to make his three point shot unguardable. This will be a key asset for the Badgers this season.
Another key player in the fast-paced, athletic lineup is the 6’4” junior Blackwell. As a sophomore last season, Blackwell averaged 15.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game for the Badgers. In the preseason, he had an explosive game against the Sooners, scoring 20 points and grabbing 5 rebounds. In total, he averaged 14.5 points, 6 rebounds and 2.5 assists across both exhibitions. Blackwell was named to the Jerry West Award Watchlist heading into the season, highlighting the nation’s best shooting guards.
If the Badgers run their high-paced pick and roll offense and use their size and athleticism, they should defeat the Camels comfortably.
