The No. 24 Wisconsin Badgers pulled off a 97-72 victory over the Northern Illinois Huskies on Friday, starting off the season 2-0 with a pair of blowout wins.
It was another commanding win for the Badgers,
this time thanks to a hot start, as they stayed efficient offensively and had another quality performance.
13 Badgers saw playing time on Friday, including head coach Greg Gard’s son Isaac Gard, who had a career-high five points. The one Badger who did not play? Four-star freshman Zach Kinziger.
Kinziger, Wisconsin’s top recruit in the Class of 2025, was a star at De Pere High School and came in with the potential to play early. But, through the Badgers’ first two games, it has been fellow freshmen Hayden Jones, Will Garlock, and Aleksas Bieliauskas in the rotation instead.
On Friday, following Wisconsin’s win, Gard revealed that Kinziger is contemplating the possibility of a redshirt.
“Zach came to me probably a week ago and we talked about it, and he’s contemplating it,” Gard said about Kinziger redshirting.
However, that doesn’t mean that Kinziger is looking to go elsewhere. Instead, he understands the situation ahead of him with a crowded guard room and wants to maximize his college years.
“He wants to get his degree from Wisconsin,” Gard continued about Kinziger. “He wants to contribute at a high level. But he knows he’s got experienced and older guys in front of him that, quite frankly, are older and more experienced, so they have a head start.”
“That really won’t become official until after the season if he doesn’t appear in any games. But I said right now, if you’re undecided, we’ll just not put you in until we get to a point, and hopefully, knock on wood, nothing happens and nobody gets hurt.”
Reporters got to see a glimpse of Kinziger during Wisconsin’s open practices in the fall. The freshman guard had a knack for scoring, being a quality shooter in a more off-ball role. However, he is smaller and less experienced than Wisconsin’s current group of guards at 6’4, 180 pounds. Adding muscle and becoming better defensively will be keys for him as he looks to grow this season.
Wisconsin’s depth is as impressive as it has been in recent years, with a group of quality starters, mixed with experience off the bench and ready-now freshmen. That provides the luxury for a good player like Kinziger to redshirt and prepare more to contribute next season.
