Wisconsin
Wisconsin men’s basketball coach Greg Gard talks about his 2025 recruiting class
MADISON – A four-star point guard, a 7-foot center and an international recruit.
The Wisconsin men’s basketball team’s 2025 recruiting class became official Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period.
It is also the first time that Badgers coach Greg Gard was allowed to publicly discuss his new players.
Here is a closer look at the class.
Will Garlock, center
Committed: June 8.
Hometown: Middleton.
High School: Middleton.
Club team: Team Herro.
Height: 7-0.
Ratings: Rivals, 247sports, On3 and ESPN list Garlock as a three-star recruit.
The lowdown: Garlock averaged 16.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for Middleton last season. He connected on 66.5% of his shots, including 31.2% from three-point range. He received honorable mention on the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Division 1 all-state team.
Gard said: We are happy to have Will joining our Badger family. Growing up as a hometown kid located in our backyard, wearing the Wisconsin jersey and being a part of this program means a lot to Will. He has a lot of potential and we see him fitting into our long line of successful big men here at Wisconsin.
Will has the size and the athleticism to compete at a high level, and he will fit right in with our style of play and with how the college game has evolved in recent years. Coming off an injury last season, we are excited to watch Will continue to keep trending towards his immense potential. We look forward to seeing him continuously throughout the upcoming season before he joins us in the summer months ahead. Our staff is eagerly waiting to start helping Will develop into a really good front line addition.
Hayden Jones, guard
Committed: July 25.
Hometown: Nelson, New Zealand.
Club team: Nelson Giants.
Height: 6-7.
Ratings: Unrated international prospect.
The lowdown: Jones has played for the Nelson Giants, a professional team, the past two seasons. He averaged 2.9 points and 1.3 assists per game last season. He has represented New Zealand in multiple international tournaments and last February became the fourth-youngest player (at age 17) to play for the New Zealand national team. His father, Phill, was a teammate of UW assistant Kirk Penney on the New Zealand national team.
Gard said: We are excited about the addition of Hayden to our program. He has really grown in terms of his actual size, and at 6-foot-7 he is very versatile. Hayden has developed himself into a player that can play point guard, plus the two and three positions. Defensively, he’s long and does an excellent job of guarding players and disrupting shots at the rim with his natural size and ability.
He’s also a great rebounder at his position. He has 20-plus rebound games at the guard position, which is really hard to do and shows that he has a nose for the ball. Hayden has a high basketball IQ and we are looking forward to him coming into our program and absorbing what we do here. He comes from an athletic family, which includes his father, Phill, who was an elite shooter for the New Zealand senior national team and one of the leading scorers in the 2004 Olympics. We are thrilled to have Hayden joining our program and we are eager to help him grow.
Zach Kinziger, guard
Committed: Aug. 4, 2023.
Hometown: De Pere.
High School: De Pere.
Club team: Team Herro.
Height: 6-3.
Ratings: ESPN and 247sports list Kinziger as a four-star recruit. On3 and Rivals consider him a three-star prospect.
The lowdown: ESPN ranks him as the No. 68 prospect in the 2025 class. He averaged 19.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game for the Redbirds and was a first team WBCA first-team all-state selection. Last season he helped his team advance to the sectional final. De Pere won a state championship his sophomore season.
Gard said: We are very excited to have Zach joining our program. Growing up in the state of Wisconsin, playing for this program is a dream for him. While evaluating him, it did not take long for my staff and I to identify Zach for his shooting, competitive drive, basketball IQ, and the effort that he competes with on the defensive end.
Zach has been one of the best shooters in all of high school basketball, which will remind Wisconsin fans of many former Badgers that have helped our program sustain a high level of success. As the son of a coach, Zach plays the game the right way, and he has earned everything that has come his way. Just as impressive is Zach’s preparation in the classroom and the hard work that he puts into academics. We are excited for Zach to join our Badger Family and we can’t wait to begin working with him to help him reach his goals.
Wisconsin
Charges dropped against Wisconsin man in fight at Butch McGuire's that critically injured man
CHICAGO (WLS) — Charges have been dropped against a man in a bar fight that critically injured another patron.
A 24-year-old of Mequon, Wisconsin, was arrested on Oct. 20 for allegedly breaking a glass on a 27-year-old man’s face.
The bar fight happened at Butch McGuire’s bar at State and Division streets.
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On Wednesday, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office dropped the charged against the man after insufficient evidence.
The man was facing a felony charge for aggravated battery.
On Oct. 22, prosecutors said shards from that broken glass caused cuts to victim’s face and severed his jugular vein, which required surgery.
The man was released on the conditions to not have any with the victim or witnesses and that he stays away from Butch McGuire’s.
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Wisconsin
Three Burning Questions: Wisconsin braces for No. 1 Oregon
Three Burning Questions: Wisconsin braces for No. 1 Oregon
Wisconsin has one more shot to shock the nation when the top-ranked Oregon Ducks come to Madison for a primetime showdown under the Camp Randall lights.
As the Badgers look to avoid a three-game losing streak, what questions surround this matchup?
1. Can Wisconsin’s secondary hold up against Oregon’s dynamic receiver trio?
Oregon’s passing attack, currently ranked 15th in the nation, boasts one of the most dynamic receiver corps in the entire country. It’s comprised of Tez Johnson, Evan Stewart and Traeshon Holden, all of whom figure to play on Sundays.
Johnson has 64 catches for 649 yards and eight touchdowns. Stewart has 37 grabs for 517 yards and five scores. Holden has reeled in 30 passes for 492 yards and three touchdowns. Oregon’s third-leading receiver has outpaced Wisconsin’s top receiver (Vinny Anthony).
Wisconsin has faced plenty of dynamic wideouts this fall. Alabama’s Ryan Williams and USC’s Ja’Kobi Lane come to mind. The Badgers didn’t fare well against either.
Williams reeled in all four of his targets for 78 yards and a touchdown. Lane caught a whopping 10 passes for 105 yards and two scores. In both instances, the opposing receiver simply beat the Badgers’ defensive backs in coverage time and time again, and there were multiple offenders. Nyzier Fourqurean, Hunter Wohler and RJ Delancy are among those who fell victim to the aforementioned electrifying wideouts.
“They’re gonna be challenged in different ways, and that’s the beauty of college football, right? You can be challenged in a lot of different ways, and this would be one that maybe we haven’t seen really the entire year. The ability for them to throw the ball downfield, the dynamic of the wide receivers that they have, obviously the quarterback and the ability for him to make plays both with his feet and in the air,” head coach Luke Fickell said.
Fickell is right: Oregon poses a different test in terms of the sheer number of talented wideouts they deploy. With the Crimson Tide, Williams was by far and away the top receiving threat. In the USC game, Lane dominated the target share — and Wisconsin’s defensive backs. But the Ducks spread the ball to a variety of capable eligibles.
“We’ve got the utmost confidence, right?” Fickell continued. “We talked about Rico (Hallman) earlier; there’s gonna be a lot more opportunities this week for him to be in positions to have a chance to make some plays. And he’s gonna be challenged, no doubt.”
2. Can the Badgers inspire any confidence in the trenches?
In back-to-back games against Iowa and Penn State, Wisconsin’s play along the offensive line and from the defensive front seven has left much to be desired. The Badgers got dominated at the point of attack in both games, an area that’s particularly frustrating for Fickell.
The head coach is a noted traditionalist in terms of trench play being the most important aspect of the game. The entire season, he’s harped on how significant the action around the line of scrimmage is. But in Wisconsin’s losses, namely against Alabama, Penn State and Iowa, the trenches were owned by the Badgers’ opponents.
Oregon will pose yet another daunting test up front. On the Ducks’ offense, tailback Jordan James has been a stud. He’s racked up 946 yards on the ground on 5.7 yards-per-carry with 10 touchdowns. He was limited last week against Maryland with just seven carries, but should have little to no limitations Saturday night in Camp Randall. The Oregon offensive line has also allowed just 10 sacks this season.
The Ducks have a stout rushing defense that’s surrendered 117.4 yards-per-game. For reference, that’s about a yard more than Iowa. In consecutive games, Wisconsin will face an upper-echelon run defense. Oregon has also compiled 27.0 sacks this fall, tied for ninth in the nation.
Oregon brings a lot of glitz and glamour with its playmakers at the skill positions, but make no mistake — if Wisconsin wants to win this game, it needs to play better in the trenches. If the Badgers can bring pressure, for example, it won’t always matter how tightly the Ducks’ wideouts are blanketed.
3. What personnel adjustments will be made after the bye week?
Bye weeks are often used as a period of self-scouting and reflection, and for the Badgers, there’s plenty to clean up on both sides of the ball. But as the season begins to wind down, and decisions begin getting made for the future, it stands to reason that Wisconsin is in line for some personnel shuffling in its final three games.
Offensive coordinator Phil Longo spoke this week about an effort to get several players more involved schematically, and he named Trech Kekahuna, Vinny Anthony, Tucker Ashcraft and Darrion Dupree. Kekahuna especially makes since: after his 134-yard, two touchdown outing against Purdue, the slot receiver has just five catches across the following four games.
Dupree, meanwhile, makes plenty of sense as well as a player who could see his snap count spike. The Badgers are still committed to using Tawee Walker as their bell cow back, but Dupree looks like a very mature runner and feels like an underutilized weapon in this offense. He was the team’s leading rusher two weeks ago in Iowa City and had the Badgers’ longest run of the night.
On defense, I would expect linebacker Christian Alliegro to continue to be heavily involved. Especially against a quarterback like Dillon Gabriel, who can extend plays with his legs and stress defenses with his mobility, Alliegro’s closing speed will be of the utmost importance Saturday night.
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Wisconsin
Missing Wisconsin kayaker might have faked death, fled country: Authorities
MADISON, Wisc. (FOX 9) – When Ryan Borgwardt didn’t return home from a fishing trip on Green Lake in southeastern Wisconsin in early August, local authorities believed he had drowned.
But now they believe he is alive and well, instead of at the bottom of the lake.
“This one tops my 18-and-a-half-years of being sheriff. It didn’t turn out the way we thought it was going to turn out. It turned out completely different,” Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podell told FOX 9.
After Borgwardt disappeared, sheriff’s deputies found his van and trailer in a nearby park and then his capsized kayak in the lake, as well as his fishing pole and tackle box with his wallet, keys and ID inside.
But after scouring that section of the lake that is over 200-feet deep in some parts dozens of times over 54 days, investigators decided to look in a different direction.
“The pieces started adding up more and more that he is definitely not in our lake,” said Podell.
Investigators discovered Borgwardt had recently transferred money to a foreign bank account, replaced the hard drive on his computer and communicated with a woman in Uzbekistan.
He had also gotten a new passport, which was checked by Canadian authorities the day after he was reported missing, and had taken out a $375,000 life insurance policy earlier in the year, leading investigators to believe Borgwardt faked his death and fled the country.
“You don’t see this happening every day. It’s not normal to all of a sudden just leave your family,” said Podell.
Investigators believe Borgwardt is in Eastern Europe, but they aren’t sure where.
They say they won’t stop looking for him until they find him.
“We’re going to continue to follow through on this case until we can’t turn over any more leads,” said Podell.
Podell says he wants restitution for the resources they spent looking for Borgwardt.
He is also looking at whether Borgwardt broke any laws, but so far he hasn’t been charged with any.
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