Ultimately, it must be asked whether the Badgers are being led by the right coach. While this year’s class appears to be much better, as it slots in at #39 overall, it does not absolve coach Greg Gard of blame for last year’s pitiful recruiting showing. Last year, 247Sports ranked Wisconsin’s recruiting class as the worst in the Big Ten. However, the program should’ve been even more aggressive in the transfer portal given the weak recruiting class. Klesmit has been a consistent starter, so he can be considered a solid pickup. Wisconsin also acquired Max Klemsit from Wofford and Kamari McGee from Green Bay through the transfer portal. The Badgers only reeled in guard Connor Essegian, and even though he has been a key contributor this year, bringing in only one player is unacceptable. The 2022 recruiting class, particularly since it came off a Big Ten title-winning season, was poor. While Wisconsin’s slide only began recently, the source can perhaps be attributed to recruiting. This year, Wisconsin has the fifth best defense in the conference this year, and it’s not enough to keep a floundering offense afloat. The Badgers are averaging only 65 points per game, and although last year’s offense wasn’t much more prolific, they had the second best defense in the Big Ten. Overall, Wisconsin’s offense was only 11th in the Big Ten last year, but they have slumped to 13th this year, ahead of only Minnesota, who have one conference win this year. Hepburn is the Badgers’ leading scorer, averaging 13.7 points per game, with Crowl trailing behind at 11.8. Without these two, Wahl, sophomore guard Chucky Hepburn and junior center Steven Crowl have been forced to shoulder the load, and while they’ve improved individually, they have not quite been able to match the production of Davis and Davison. These two led Wisconsin in scoring last year, with Davis averaging nearly 20 points per game. The Badgers are sorely missing Johnny Davis, who was drafted 10th overall in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards, and sixth-year senior Brad Davison, who left a major void at the point guard position. So, with Wisconsin in serious danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018, what has gone wrong, and should a coaching change seriously be considered? Right now, the Badgers are meandering in the Big Ten cellar, just above football schools like Penn State and Nebraska, and Ohio State and Minnesota, who are having dreadful years. Therefore, injuries are not entirely to blame for the team’s slide from first to tenth in the conference. On the other hand, besides Wahl, no player earning significant minutes on this team has missed multiple games due to injury. One of the team’s leading scorers, Tyler Wahl, did miss a chunk of those January games - the Badgers lost all three games he missed, which perhaps illustrates an alarming lack of depth. Despite a big win over Michigan on Tuesday, it’s still fair to ask if this team is heading in the right direction. Since conference play fully began after the new year, Wisconsin is 5-8, with two losses to Northwestern to mark their first season sweep of the Badgers in 27 years and a poor loss to 12-14 Nebraska.
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