The Wisconsin Badgers are off to the offseason, as they look to build up the roster for the 2026 season. We’ve already seen two departures, as Riccardo Greppi and Jack Robison are heading to the transfer portal, freeing up two roster spots.
The Badgers will have three parts to focus on this offseason. The first is the most underrated part of the offseason: player retention. Wisconsin has a lot of talent returning with college eligibility next season, namely John Blackwell, Nolan Winter, Austin Rapp,
and Aleksas Bieliauskas. Finding a way to keep that core will be the task of the offseason.
Then comes the transfer portal, where the Badgers will look to use their available resources to get a couple of high-impact players to complement the roster (ideally a guard and a wing). But the third part is shoring up the team’s 2026 recruiting class, where efforts are still being made to add players.
Wisconsin has already landed commitments from three-star in-state forward LaTrevion Fenderson and New Zealand guard Jackson Ball, who are the two recruits in the Badgers’ 2026 class right now. But could there be more?
One notable name that just popped up was three-star forward Zavier Zens, who was named Wisconsin Mr. Basketball this season. At Wisconsin Lutheran, Zens averaged 23.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game this season, proving that he could play at the collegiate level.
He had received interest from the Badgers last summer, coming on visits and camping with the team, but the 6’7, 215-pound forward committed early to Northern Iowa and head coach Ben Jacobson last August. But, with Jacobson heading to Utah State this offseason, Zens requested and was granted a release from his National Letter of Intent, so he is free to head elsewhere.
Naturally, following Jacobson to Utah State could be the logical move. But Wisconsin is looking to jump back in the mix and could very well be a suitor for Zens, depending on how their offseason moves shape out.
The Badgers do have extra roster spots now and will likely target a few players in the transfer portal, but could still have room to add one or two more high school players (if they want to look the international route again).
The timelines may not work out, as Wisconsin could look to see what resources it has after focusing on retention and the transfer portal, while Zens may want to figure out his future sooner. But that would definitely be a cool pairing after the forward was a big riser as a senior this season.
