Incoming Badgers Freshman Shining at Top International Scouting Event

One of Wisconsin's international freshman logged good performances at the Adidas Eurocamp.

New Zealand guard Jackson Ball | New Zealand guard Jackson Ball

Wisconsin basketball's 2026-27 team is going to have a heavy Australian/New Zealand flavor, with five players — more than a third of the Badgers' current roster — hailing from Down Under.

Two of those players have already been in Madison for a year: rising junior stretch forward Austin Rapp and rising sophomore guard Hayden Jones. Meanwhile, the other three join the program this offseason: forward Isaac Riddle and guards Owen Foxwell and Jackson Ball.

The latter joins Wisconsin after spending four seasons in the NBL, and given his robust professional experience already, Ball may be able to contribute to the Badgers' backcourt immediately.

Competing against some of the top rising star hoopers in the world at the 19th annual Adidas Eurocamp, Ball's performance certainly backed up that notion.

The Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy is one of the biggest international scouting events in all of basketball, and dozens of NBA scouts and personnel regularly attend.

Ball's stat-line through two games

Ball, who competed on the NBL Next Star team, has looked the part through two games. In his first outing, playing against Team World, he notched 11 points and one rebound on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 from distance, also tallying a plus/minus of 14 while playing just over 19 minutes.

In his second game Saturday evening, he recorded 15 points on 5-of-11 from the field and 3-of-7 from deep as well as six rebounds and three assists with a plus/minus of 15 across just under 28 minutes.

Ball was his team's second or third-leading scorer in each game. He played the shooting guard/wing role for NBL Next Stars, touching the ball plenty on offense but not as the primary facilitator.

What Ball's performance means

Ball, who turned 18 on March 10, still looks like he'll need some time to develop into a starter-caliber player, but this is the kind of performance that makes you confident in his ability to contribute positive minutes immediately.

Ball's stat-line will tell you that he can knock down threes, but watch the games and you'll see the other aspects of his offensive game, like pick-and-roll situations and an ability to get downhill and put pressure on the rim. That last trait, in particular, is so crucial for Wisconsin's three-point barrage offense to get quality looks from outside.

The 6-foot-4 guard's game is still growing, but he's already very sure of his identity as a hooper. Watch him play at the Adidas Eurocamp, and he never gets sped-up or out of his game. That's not to say he was flawless, but clearly, his experience with professional and international competition has done wonders for his confidence.