Potential Key Transfer Portal Target Emerges for Wisconsin Basketball

Sometimes, the ebbs and flows of the transfer portal take you by surprise. And sometimes, you can see certain things coming from a mile away.

Could Wisconsin basketball pursue recent portal entry and former Portland Pilot star Joel Foxwell? After it just flipped his brother, Owen, from LSU in the 2026 signing class, it certainly seems likely.

With Owen Foxwell now officially in tow for the 2026-27 season, Wisconsin appears to have added a key piece to its backcourt. Though he's technically in the class of 2026, he's 22 years old and has over four seasons of experience in the Australian NBL. He doesn't look like someone who's going to waste away on the bench.

Still, the backcourt-needy Badgers still have plenty of work to do in terms of adding guards. With Foxwell making it a three-man class in 2026 (although he may not be given a full four years of eligibility given his age), Wisconsin is currently at 11 players on the 2026-2027 roster. Of course, that's prior to any further transfer portal movement, which there is almost certain to be more of.

Enter Joel Foxwell. When he first left Portland, he instantly seemed like a good fit for the Badgers. Now, with his brother en route to Madison, he's immediately Wisconsin's most obvious potential transfer portal target.

Breaking Down Joel Foxwell

Former Portland Pilots guard Joel Foxwell. | James Snook-Imagn Images

Foxwell played one rather uneventful season in Australia's professional league, the NBL, before heading to the United States where he signed with the Portland Pilots of the West Coast Conference.

The point guard immediately earned a starting role on what was a deeply flawed Portland squad that finished 10th out of 12 in the WCC. Still, Foxwell wasted no time making an impact.

Pop on Foxwell's tape, and there's a lot to like.

First of all, Portland may be considered low-major basketball. But the WCC is a competitive conference that sent three teams to the NCAA Tournament: Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and Santa Clara. Foxwell fared great against all three. Against Gonzaga, he dropped 27 points (on 18 shots), four rebounds and eight assists. Against Saint Mary's, he had 27 points, three rebounds and five assists. Versus Santa Clara, he dropped 20 points and 15 assists, along with three steals and two boards.

Overall, Foxwell had a great season, averaging 15.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists, the latter of which was the 14th best mark in D-I. His shooting numbers don't look the best on paper (39.3 percent from the field, 31.9 percent from downtown). But again, watch him play, and you can tell that he has an abundance of tools.

Foxwell is a skilled shotmaker with a quick release. He can get shots up in small windows of space and time, and gets good looks both off plays and inbounds but also by creating for himself off the pick and roll.

Portland’s Joel Foxwell. | Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The point guard can also drive to the hoop and has a solid layup package with really nice touch on his floaters and runners inside the paint. He's got a certain craftiness around the rim to him that Nick Boyd possessed running the point in Madison.

Foxwell is also obviously an excellent passer given his assist numbers. He understands how to manipulate defenses to get good looks for his teammates, and had a dozen games in which he logged at least eight dimes.

Where you'll notice he lacks is in physicality, and he struggled when defenses looked to rough him up in the paint. He still has the quickness to drive to the rim, but when he faced contact he struggled to get his shots to fall. That obviously won't fly in the Big Ten, a very physical league full of big, strong forwards. Foxwell could use a productive summer in a strength and conditioning program.

Overall, you have to like what you see from the Aussie point guard, especially given that he has three years of eligibility remaining. He plays the same position as his brother, who figures to get involved right away in Madison. But Wisconsin would be foolish not to kick the tires on the former Portland Pilot, who oozes talent and potential.