The Wisconsin Badgers are off to a shaky 1-0 start to the 2026 campaign following a 75-68 win against Denver that was anything but convincing.
That being said, if Wisconsin is going to have a successful season, it will start with star 7-foot senior center Nolan Winter. Against Denver, Winter tallied six points, 14 rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and one steal. While Winter and the Badgers could have gotten off to a better start, that doesn’t take away from the fact that Winter is one of the best players college basketball has to offer.
Prior to UW's season opener, Winter was named to the 2026-27 Naismith Player of the Year Watch List.
A big honor for our big guy pic.twitter.com/vRkSAuKhW5
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) November 2, 2026
How much can Winter help the Badgers?
The 2025-26 season saw Winter break out as he averaged
13.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 blocks, averaging a 56.9% field goal rate.
Winter’s most notable game came in Wisconsin’s 78-77 heartbreaker overtime loss against Indiana, where he finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds. John Hollinger’s game score metric values the productivity of a given player. A score of 10 means that player had an “average” game, with a 40 being an “outstanding” score. Last season, Winter finished with a 13. The next chance for Winter and the Badgers to get their non-conference schedule off on the right foot is this Friday against Delaware, with streaming available on the Big Ten Plus and tipoff set for 7:30 PM ET.
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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Star Wisconsin forward named to Naismith Player of the Year Watch List
