The Wisconsin Badgers held their annual Red-White scrimmage on Sunday, giving the fans a glimpse of their new-look team that includes nine newcomers.
Interestingly enough, it was the newcomers that led the way on the day, as Wisconsin split its roster into two teams for the scrimmage. Here’s what the teams looked like:
Team Red: Braeden Carrington, Nick Boyd, Zach Kinziger, Elijah Gray, Andrew Rohde, Jack Robison, Will Garlock, Nolan Winter
Team White: Jack Janicki, Hayden Jones, Isaac Gard, Riccardo Greppi, Austin Rapp, John Blackwell, Aleksas Bieliauskas
The starters were Nolan Winter, Nick Boyd, Will Garlock, Andrew Rohde, and Braeden Carrington for Team Red, and John Blackwell, Austin Rapp, Jack Janicki, Hayden Jones, and Aleksas Bieliauskas for Team White. Elijah Gray did not play due to an illness.
Here are three quick takeaways from the Red-White scrimmage on Sunday.
The Badgers had strong performances from two top transfers: Nick Boyd and Austin Rapp, who were the leaders of their respective teams on Sunday.
Boyd led all scorers with 21 points for the winners Team Red, shooting 5/9 from the field, 1/5 from three, and 10/10 from the line. We’ve written about it for much of the summer, but the thing that stood out about Boyd the most was his speed.
Boyd moved quickly in the transition, going coast-to-coast off two rebounds for a layup and a foul as he blew past the defense. His speed was also seen in the halfcourt, as he’d take angles with one-on-one matchups to find ways to the rim.
He’s aggressive and clearly looks to get to the hoop with confidence, similarly to John Tonje a year ago, but in a much different way with quickness rather than strength.
Boyd also drew a late charge on John Blackwell and was clearly amped up about it. He’s a leader on the team, talking well defensively, and can take over offensively when asked to.
Even then, head coach Greg Gard still looked for certain things, such as keeping up that pace in transition throughout the game, rather than letting it fall off at times in the first half. But, it was a good start for Boyd on Sunday.
On the other hand, Austin Rapp had a team-high 15 points for Team White, hitting 6/12 from the field, including 1/6 from three. He also hauled in five rebounds and dished out four assists, showing his all-around game.
Coming from Portland, Rapp was touted as a three-point shooter, which he’s shown this offseason. But, I was impressed by the other facets of his game. He didn’t settle much, looking to put the ball on the floor and be aggressive getting into the paint to find his spots. That led to an efficient performance inside the arc even with the threes not coming at their regular rate.
Rapp worked well inside, both as a scorer and a passer, dumping passes down to the centers when he found angles for easy layups. He’s got good vision, is growing in his aggressiveness, and showing his all-around skillset.
Blackwell finds his spots
John Blackwell was second for Team White with 13 points, hitting 5/12 shots, including 1/5 from three-point range. Blackwell also had seven rebounds and four assists in the game.
Blackwell has continued to grow as a scorer, which we’ve seen in the offseason, and he found his spots when attacking on Sunday, settling for midranges, inside jumpers, shots at the rim, and even a catch-and-shoot look.
He manuevers the court really well to get to those spots for more efficient shots, which is a key in the Badgers offense.
There were some times where it felt Blackwell didn’t have to take a three, looking to shoot some off the dribble or off the pick and roll on a screen, but he’s looking to improve efficiency on those shots. He’s also still working on those pick-and-roll situations, where he’s a score-first guard in comparison to teammates like Boyd, Andrew Rohde, and Hayden Jones, who look for both options. But, that usually works out for the Badgers.
Blackwell likely leads this team in scoring and his efficiency will be key in a higher-volume role this year.
The 2025 freshman class has been one to talk about all offseason long, and that was the case on Sunday, where all four saw significant playing time.
Will Garlock got to start alongside Nolan Winter, giving the Badgers a different look with two seven-foot bigs like they had with Steven Crowl and Winter a year ago.
Garlock has shown a lot of growth for me. Coming in, he didn’t have much polish on either end of the court, but was very clearly physically gifted. The physical gifts haven’t gone anywhere, but he’s starting to grow more offensively. He had a nice spin move for a score off the glass on a pick-and-roll. Later, after catching the ball at the high post following a pick-and-roll, he looked to be aggressive, getting fouled on a kickout.
There’ll be times where he looks out of place (two turnovers on passes kicking back up top), and defensively, there’s always room to grow. But, Garlock is showing more and more, which bodes well for potential early playing time.
Hayden Jones has drawn tons of praise from the coaching staff, and played alongside John Blackwell and Jack Janicki on Sunday. Jones saw a ton of chances with the ball, working the pick-and-roll, and showed glimpses of his natural gift as a passer.
As a shooter, there was an opportunity for a catch-and-shoot that he passed up, which the coaches may want more of. But, Jones has been more comfortable firing from the wings and corners on threes, rather than up top so far.
Jones had four points, two steals, two assists, and three rebounds in the game, and gives the Badgers size and length on the wing in an Andrew Rohde-like role as a perimeter defender that can run the point when needed.
This group, which also includes Zach Kinziger and Aleksas Bieliauskas, looks to be a part of Wisconsin’s top 12 right now. We’ll see come next week how the Badgers look to divvy up minutes in the exhibition against the Oklahoma Sooners before the season opener.
