Braeden Carrington has turned into an offensive weapon for the Wisconsin Badgers

MADISON, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin will honor four seniors before Wednesday's home finale against Maryland, which perfectly encapsulates the new era of college athletics.

With the guests of honor being starters Nick Boyd and Andrew Rohde, reserve guard Braeden Carrington, and scout-team contributor Isaac Gard, it will mark the first senior day celebration since the 2017-18 season that the Badgers won't be honoring a homegrown scholarship player.

One thing that hasn't changed is that each outgoing Badger has a unique story to tell. One came to Wisconsin to play against some of the best competition in the country, another came to prove himself to his doubters, a third came to finish his career at home, and the last one came to play for his dad.

Leading up to tip-off, we take a look at the Wisconsin senior class and their college journeys. Here, we look at the journey of Carrington, who has developed into the Badgers’ most reliable bench option.

Related: Guard Nick Boyd, Guard Isaac Gard, Guard Andrew Rohde (coming Wednesday)

It was hard for Carrington to hear the "bust" word. He committed to Minnesota as the state's Mr. Basketball winner, averaging 17.8 points per game for a school that went 31-1 and won the 2022 4A state title. In his first three college seasons, Carrington felt like he was more of a defensive specialist and a role player.

He scored 5.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in 20.4 minutes during his two seasons with the Gophers, starting 10 of his 51 games played, but was hampered by injuries that prevented him from reaching his potential.

He entered the transfer portal in search of a fresh start and landed at Tulsa. Although the American Conference was a step down from the Big Ten, Carrington regained his confidence after averaging 7.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and had 32 steals last season for the Golden Hurricanes.

But after experiencing three seasons without a postseason berth, Carrington wanted to spend his final year at a school with a winning culture where he could contribute to wins. That stood out when Wisconsin offered him over an offer list that lacked power-conference schools.

"I realized I wasn't the best player on the court anymore," Carrington said about his time in Minnesota. "Everybody else is just as good as me, and I'm not going to be able to go up and shoot a bunch of shots. For me to get on the court, I had to stand out and do something else. I figured out that just doing the dirty work, not everybody wants to do that. I found joy in getting rebounds, playing inside, and getting physical. I think that helped with my defense and getting stronger.

"My defensive intensity and how much I have the passion to win, that's the big thing I talked to a lot of schools with, but especially Wisconsin. With guys like Max Klesmit and Steven Crowl gone, they just needed a presence to go out there and do the dirty stuff. They have great players returning, but they wanted another guy to help, be an older presence, and just be physical and gritty."

Carrington also didn't shy away from the fact that he wanted the opportunity to play against the Gophers, shedding the "bust" label in front of the fans who gave it to him. He succeeded.

While it took him time to get re-acclimated to the Big Ten level throughout the nonconference schedule, Carrington delivered a career-high 21 points in UW's 78-75 victory at Minnesota on January 13. It's a performance that has continued to spark his level of play.

He's scored at least six points in 11 of the last 12 games, the high point coming Saturday when he set a new school record with nine three-pointers in a 90-73 win at Washington. Carrington finished with a new career-high of 32 points, the most by a Badgers reserve since March 2012, when Rob Wilson scored 30 points in the Badgers' 79-71 win over No.15 Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament.

From yesterday, Braeden Carrington and Wisconsin delivered a dynamic three-point shooting performance in a road win at Washington
Recap: https://t.co/zX5esHpmLx
Notes: https://t.co/KwXoNr13zP #Badgers Takeaways: https://t.co/6ciYkVnqQh
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) March 1, 2026

"When you got a guy coming off, Braeden's ready to shoot like that, that is just another confidence boost," said Boyd. "Him and (Austin Rapp), some of the best shooters in the Big Ten. When they're going, we usually win by a lot, or we get big wins. It was fun to see."

The likely season-ending wrist injury to reserve guard Jack Janicki has put a higher onus on Carrington to deliver quality minutes. Since Janicki's injury at Ohio State, Carrington has scored at least 20 points in two of the last four games. In the last seven weeks, he has more games of at least 20 points (three) than he did in the 80 career games before coming to Wisconsin.

"Braeden, we recruited with the idea he was going to be a defender, and he just turned into an offensive juggernaut," head coach Greg Gard said. "Rohde was the opposite. He was recruited more for his offense, and he's turned into one of our better defensive players.

"I think the main thing is that they've all continued to work and take coaching and this and kept winning at the forefront, and that's so important."