Is Wisconsin Basketball's Depth a Strength or a Question Mark?

Wisconsin simply isn’t going to have the star-power it has grown accustomed to in recent seasons between John Tonje, Nick Boyd and John Blackwell. One thing that Greg Gard does feel like he has at his disposal, however, is depth. That depth showed out against Fairfield on Tuesday, but questions remain about the bench moving forward.

Earlier than expected, thanks to two tight games against Denver and Delaware, Gard has had to rely on his bench in high-leverage situations. The rotation is still very much a work in progress. For now, Austin Rapp has been coming off the bench. He’s going to play, as will Jack Janicki and Will Garlock, but past those three, there’s some minutes up for grabs.

Gard admitted that beyond his starters and first few players off the bench, he’s still trying to figure out what his rotation will look like come midseason. Through three games, I’ve seen good things from a number of the players competing for end-of-rotation minutes, but the question I keep coming back to is whether this team is genuinely deep or if there is a lack of standout, Big Ten-ready players on the bench.

Is Austin Rapp really a bench piece?

So far, it’s been Victory Onuetu starting alongside Nolan Winter in the frontcourt. I’m extremely curious to find out if this is something Gard intends to do for the entire season. We’ve seen Winter and Rapp together and know it works as a forward tandem, but at this point, I wouldn’t be opposed to keeping Onuetu in the starting lineup.

Come Big Ten play, I think teams will hunt fouls from Onuetu, so Rapp may be playing starters minutes on a nightly basis regardless. But my one concern with moving Rapp into the starting lineup is what does that leave for offensive production from the second unit?

On opening night against Denver, with Onuetu plagued by foul trouble, Rapp played 30 minutes and logged nine points and five rebounds. Against Delaware, Onuetu played exceptionally, so Rapp saw just 14 minutes and didn’t score. Tuesday night against Fairfield, Rapp played 21 minutes, scoring a team-high 15 points and grabbing six rebounds.

In the season opener against the Pioneers, a combined seven points from Jack Janicki and Jackson Ball was all the bench could muster outside of Rapp. The follow up performance against Delaware wasn’t any better. Janicki scored seven, but a free throw from Zach Kinziger was the only other bench point. Finally, against the Stags, there was production across the board from the bench, partially aided by the game being entirely uncompetitive.

Wisconsin's Austin Rapp. — Mar 19, 2026; Portland, OR, USA; Wisconsin Badgers forward Austin Rapp (22) reacts during the second half of a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament against the High Point Panthers at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

For now, I think I like the idea of Rapp continuing to come off the bench. He’s going to play closing minutes for this team, but without him, there’s no source of offense you can trust to be a consistent contributor at this point off the bench. Also, with Onuetu eating up some early frontcourt minutes, Gard ideally won’t have to deal with foul trouble for Winter too often.

Which young guard makes a jump?

Janicki is the guard with the most experience off the bench, but now in his fourth season with the program, you know what you’re getting there. He’s a spark-plug off the bench that can create some havoc defensively and anything you get offensively is a bonus.

On Tuesday against Fairfield, there was a little more production from the other bench guards. Kinziger scored all seven of his points against the Stags in the first half, knocking down his first 3-pointer before hitting four free throws. Ball got downhill and scored twice in the first half, adding another layup late, bringing his total to six points on Tuesday.

One newcomer, Trey Autry, averaged double figures in the Atlantic 10 last season, leading Badger fans to believe he’d be a key contributor, but he’s yet to play rotational minutes thus far. Of guards off the bench, Autry has by far the best track record of scoring at the Division I level, but for now, he’s not part of the regular rotation.

Maybe Autry finds his footing here and slots into a scorer role off the bench, but for now, a jump from Kinziger or Ball feels necessary for this bench to be impactful in a high-major league.

Conclusion

The conclusion at this juncture is that there is no conclusion. In a few months, maybe Rapp will be moved into the starting lineup. If he’s not, I’m confident that he’ll be the leading scorer off the bench. Even if Gard keeps the Australian forward with the second unit for a scoring punch, however, he’ll need his young guards to make strides.

Just three games into the season, the bench looks improved from where it was on opening night, but there’s a long way to go, and Gard’s reserves still have plenty of necessary growth to be impactful once conference play rolls around.

I’m not pressing the panic button this early by any means, but as the non-conference season progresses, how the bench affects games will be something I have my eyes on every game.

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