3 burning questions in Wisconsin basketball summer practice
Wisconsin men's basketball summer workouts are underway with plenty of unknowns
Madison, WI — In less than four months, college basketball will be back on television screens nationwide. Until then, summer workouts, final roster updates, and scheduling news continues to trickle in. Wisconsin basketball summer practices are well underway and although the Wisconsin Badgers have posted their roster, head coach Greg Gard almost certainly has plenty of questions about his group.
As the two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year tries to mesh together a roster with eight new pieces, he does so the the NCAA landscape continuously changing beneath his feet. Eligibility uncertainty has undeniably made year-over-year roster construction more difficult. Meanwhile, late-season and off-season surgeries for two key UW contributors added additional wrinkles.
Gard will have innumerable questions about Xs and Os, stylistic fit, and personalities that he hand his staff will have to answer this summer. Before the nitty gritty, three big picture concerns remain.
How many years of eligibility does Owen Foxwell have?
When the LSU Tigers made a coaching change this offseason, the Wisconsin Badgers seized on a recruiting opportunity. With last season’s starting point guard, Nick Boyd, leaving for the NBA after exhausting his collegiate eligibility, Gard found what appeared to be a long-term veteran replacement.
Enter Owen Foxwell. The one-time LSU commit turned Badger is set to begin his first season of college basketball after playing five seasons in the Australian NBL. During his final season in Australia’s top professional league, he averaged 10.8 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.0 rebounds as the starting point guard for the South East Melbourne Phoenix.
Having not played college basketball previously, the assumption may have been that Foxwell would have access to a full four or five years of eligibility. With the NCAA rolling out its age-based eligibility model, however, he may only be eligible to play one final season of college basketball.
Foxwell will turn 23 years old this August. Earlier this week, the NBL Next Generation Award honoree told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he has not received final word on how many NCAA seasons he is eligible for. Wisconsin has officially listed Foxwell as a senior on its roster.
How has Jack Janicki recovered?
Coming off the bench in a sixth-man role for Wisconsin a season ago, Jack Janicki had sights on following up his breakout redshirt freshman campaign by taking another step. Defensively, he lived up to expectations. Offensively, the former preferred walk-on struggled with his shot at times.
Janicki closed the 2024-25 campaign by missing 11 consecutive three-point attempts across UW’s final nine contests. In 2025-26, the White Bear Lake High School product similarly struggled to find his groove, finishing his campaign with exactly the same season-long three-point shooting mark he did the year prior, making 13 of his 47 attempts.
The 6-foot-5 guard’s follow-up season was, however, cut short after suffering an injury during Wisconsin’s loss at Ohio State. Janicki’s broken wrist required surgery, preventing him from returning to the lineup before the Badgers’ first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament.
Even when shots are not falling, Janicki provides Wisconsin with an undeniably valuable bench piece. When his shots are falling, Janicki’s on-court value skyrockets. Because of his performance beyond the arc last year and wrist surgery to boot, eyes will be on the redshirt junior’s shooting stroke.
Is this a swan song for Nolan Winter?
Admittedly, this question will likely remain unanswered until at least January. But with Nolan Winter appearing on NBA mock drafts last offseason and his steady presence in the frontcourt throughout the subsequent campaign, the Lakeville North product’s time in Madison may be coming to a close.
A few months ago, it was perhaps a no-brainer that Winter’s fourth year in Madison would be his last. However, the 7-footer is eligible to play one more season of college basketball under the new NCAA eligibility model.
Regardless of whether this is Winter’s final season at Wisconsin or not, he is coming into summer workouts rehabbing a couple of injuries. The UW starting big man, who finished the year 10th nationally in two-point shooting percentage, missed four games down the stretch after rolling his left ankle in a win over the Maryland Terrapins. Additionally, Winter told reporters earlier this offseason that he underwent surgery on his right ankle.
“It’s been an ongoing thing ever since high school, really. I’ve been rolling it quite a bit,” Winter said. “Throughout the season, I rolled it a lot during practices and behind closed doors.”
The Minnesota native added that the long-term ailment has not hindered him in the past. In fact, Winter had never missed a game in a Badgers uniform until suffering that left ankle injury in March.
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