MADISON – Marc VandeWettering has an ask for Wisconsin men’s basketball fans.
“Stay patient,” the UW general manager said. “Trust us. We’ve got visits lined up. We’re taking constant Zooms with people. Our process and the strategy that we have – obviously we’ve brought in really good players.”
With John Tonje, Nick Boyd, AJ Storr, Max Klesmit and Micah Potter among Wisconsin’s recent and not-so-recent successful portal additions, the Badgers have a strategy that “has proven time and again to work.”
“That expectation is not going to change on our side,” VandeWettering said. “We’re going to continue to do those things and trust the process that we have and stay really disciplined to it.”
VandeWettering answered a wide array of questions about the Badgers’ roster retention and transfer portal efforts for 2026-27 in a phone call with the Journal Sentinel. Here are many of the highlights:
Will Wisconsin retain the rest of its roster, including Nolan Winter?
Wisconsin’s four transfer portal departures have consisted of two players with major roles and two players with bleak paths to playing time.
John Blackwell obviously had the largest role, averaging 19.1 points per game as a junior and scoring 30-plus points in five games. Aleksas Bieliauskas also left after earning a starting role as a freshman. Jack Robison and Riccardo Greppi, on the other hand, rarely saw the floor.
“From what you’ve seen so far, I don’t think there’s been any surprises,” VandeWettering said. “And we feel really good about being able to retain everybody else.”
Asked specifically about retaining Nolan Winter – the seven-footer who would be UW’s leading returning scorer in 2026-27 after Blackwell’s departure – VandeWettering is “refraining from commenting until anything’s official.”
VandeWettering generally said the Badgers are “trying to get stuff to the finish line sooner than later” when it comes to retention. He did not want to put an exact timeline on it, however.
“Because then if it doesn’t happen, then people are like, ‘Oh my god, they’re leaving,’” VandeWettering said. “But yeah, I will say we’re in a really good spot. We’re having really good conversations. We’ve got things that are within our strategy of what we’re trying to build.”
VandeWettering speaks glowingly about departing guard John Blackwell
Blackwell’s departure obviously was a major blow for the Badgers. He went from receiving only one high-major scholarship offer to garnering respect from coaches across the country for his dynamic skill set.
Blackwell, VandeWettering said, “was a fantastic player for us for three years” and “did some things here that people will remember forever.” The 6-foot-4 guard scored 1,519 points and was part of three UW teams that won a combined 73 games.
“We can’t thank him enough for what he was able to do for us for these last three years,” VandeWettering said. “He’ll be a Badger. He’ll be remembered as a Badger.”
For as ideal of a fit as Blackwell and the Badgers were for each other, though, his departure before his senior season was hardly a surprise in the current era of college basketball.
“We loved having John as part of the team, but we also understand the way this is transitioning,” VandeWettering said. “There’s a business side to this. And both sides have to make decisions on what’s the best thing for him and what’s the best thing for us. That’s no fault of anybody.”
Asked how much of a difference there was between what Wisconsin could pay Blackwell and what his transfer portal suitors could offer, VandeWettering said it is “hard to say.”
“There’s a lack of transparency of what reality really is, so I don’t really want to go down the path of making comparisons,” VandeWettering said. “We have a strategy, and we have evaluations and valuations that have to line up. We have to make sure we stay really disciplined in those things.”
Why did Aleksas Bieliauskas enter transfer portal?
Bieliauskas’ departure was not as much expected as Blackwell’s to those outside the Kohl Center.
The Lithuania native averaged 4.9 points and 4.4 rebounds as a freshman while showcasing spurts of 3-point shooting, including in the Badgers’ Jan. 10 win over eventual national champion Michigan.
Asked about the factors – financial or otherwise – that went into Bieliauskas’ departure, VandeWettering said there are a “lot of factors that go into every decision.”
“That’s a decision we both have to make,” VandeWettering said. “Does it make sense for us? If they feel like the market is X and we feel like it’s a little different, OK, are we able to get somewhere where we feel like we can get something done still?”
How soon could Wisconsin add via transfer portal?
The Badgers have not added any players yet via the transfer portal although that could change in the not-so-distant future as they fill their six remaining roster spots. The portal is open April 7-21, but that only affects when players can enter the portal rather than when they need to commit.
“Obviously we’ve got a lot of things moving right now,” VandeWettering said. “We’re taking Zooms, having visits, doing a bunch of different things. I would say within the next week or so, we’ll have some different pieces that we can hopefully get finalized and move from there.”
UW did add another player from the international pool of talent with 22-year-old point guard Owen Foxwell, who was previously committed to LSU before the coaching change there.
“Portal and international this time of year obviously kind of run hand-in-hand because a lot of those international seasons are wrapping up around now as well,” VandeWettering said. “Right now, I’d say it’s a pretty good combination of both. Obviously there’s a lot more players in the portal than there are available coming from overseas.”
The Badgers have plenty of remaining needs as they replace a four-player senior class – Boyd, Braeden Carrington, Andrew Rohde and Isaac Gard – along with the aforementioned transfer losses.
Barring any additional portal losses, UW has six guards and three forwards on its projected 2026-27 roster.
“We’re looking for people that can handle the ball off of balance screens, shoot threes, be solid defensively,” VandeWettering said. “And then looking obviously in the frontcourt for multiple options there. Nolan and Aussie can stretch the floor, so what does a rim-runner look like or a shot-blocker that can put a little pressure that way?”
That’s all while sticking to the Badgers’ roster-building approach that served them well in past years.
“We’re staying disciplined in our evaluations and valuations while also staying adaptable to what the market’s telling us,” VandeWettering said.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin basketball GM breaks down portal activity, roster retention
Reporting by John Steppe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
