Senators Introduce Bipartisan Legislation That Would Destroy Wisconsin Basketball's Roster

New proposed legislation would render much of Wisconsin's roster ineligible.

Wisconsin Badgers head coach Greg Gard. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

New sweeping legislation proposed by two U.S. Senators would, among many other things, gut Wisconsin basketball's roster if it ever came to pass.

Texas Republican Ted Cruz and Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell introduced a bill named the Save College Sports Act that aims to regulate the increasingly lawless college sports landscape.

Among the many policies the bill would introduce, including limiting transfers and in-season coach movement, it would also prohibit "professional athletes" from participating in college sports, even those who hail from overseas, according to a report from Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger.

Now, it's worth noting that there's a long way to go before this bill is signed into law. Congress still has to pass it, and that figures to be a long and arduous process. There's no guarantee there will be enough support to get an extremely divided and partisan Congress on board.

Still, this bill would obviously completely reshape the entire landscape of college sports and in many ways reverse many of the changes we've seen in recent years such as the booming transfer portal market and mass influx of overseas basketball players.

That last notion in particular is what should have Wisconsin's attention the most. The Badgers aren't exactly "The Balkan Five" like their Big Ten peers Illinois, a program that nearly half of its roster is comprised of overseas players. But Wisconsin still figures to lean heavily on foreign professional talent in 2026-27.

The Badgers have three incoming freshmen who hail from Oceania: Owen Foxwell and Isaac Riddle from Australia and Jackson Ball from New Zealand.

Owen Foxwell | NBL

Riddle and Ball appear to be more longer-term developmental players, but Foxwell is projected to be the Badgers' starting point guard in 2026-27. Meanwhile, Wisconsin also deploys New Zealander Hayden Jones, who is expected to see his role expand in the Badgers' backcourt as a sophomore.

All told, that's four players — almost a third of Wisconsin's roster — that would be ineligible to compete under the new bill.

International recruiting has become a staple of Wisconsin's roster-building efforts in recent seasons. With the offensive evolution ushered in by New Zealander and former coach Kirk Penny, the Badgers' connections in Australia and New Zealand have been extremely useful in bringing talent to Madison.

Wisconsin has also done well to balance out its approach to roster construction, landing a good mix of international players, transfers and American high-schoolers. Wisconsin hasn't had to rely on having all of its eggs in one basket when it comes to re-stocking its roster.

Ultimately, there's programs — like the aforementioned Illini — that this particular facet of the proposed bill would cripple more significantly. But the Badgers better keep an eye on the support (or lack thereof) for the bill in congress, because it would implement sweeping change in how Wisconsin basketball builds its roster.