Greg Gard offers his take on Wisconsin’s point guard situation and a breakout performer at Big Ten media day

ROSEMONT, ILL. – Wisconsin’s Greg Gard helped kick off Big Ten men’s basketball media day Thursday at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center by taking part in the first panel discussion of the day.

The Badgers coach shared the stage with Illinois’ Brad Underwood and Michigan’s Dusty May. Here are the highlights.

Sophomore Nolan Winter could be a potential breakout player

When asked to cite a player who isn’t getting a lot of attention now but could have people talking by the end of the season, Gard pointed to Nolan Winter.

The 6-foot-11, 235-pound sophomore is listed as 15 pounds heavier than last season. He averaged 2.4 points, 1.8 rebounds in about 9½ minutes per game last season.

Why Winter?

“Just watching freshmen go from freshmen to sophomores and the experience they can take from that handful of minutes they got as a freshman and how they use that in the offseason to improve their body, their game,” Gard said. “I’m able to play two 7-footers together in Steve Crowl and Nolan Winter. For Nolan to take the jump he has (and) he still has a ways to go, but we really like what we see from him so far.”

Who is ready to run the point?

One void created by the transfer portal was the departure of Chucky Hepburn to Louisville.

Gard was asked about the position from the perspective of senior Camren Hunter or freshman Daniel Freitag assuming the role, but Gard didn’t limit his response to those two.

“You mentioned Daniel Frietag, a freshman, Camren Hunter who we got out of the portal,” Gard said. “Kamari McGee is a returner for us that missed a fair amount of time last year with an injury and has played well. I’ve even used John Blackwell some at the point.

“Positionally I don’t get consumed with numbers whether you are a one or a two or a three. I like size. I like skill and depth. I think we’ve got all three.”

Gard shares view on Big Ten’s growth

When Gard arrived in the Big Ten as Bo Ryan’s top assistant in 2001, the conference had 11 teams. Nebraska joined in…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/greg-gard-offers-wisconsins-point-172109547.html

Author : Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Publish date : 2024-10-03 17:21:09

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