Three former Badgers crowned 2025 Winter Showcase Champions

After grinding and competing together last season for Wisconsin, three former Badgers got to hoist their first professional trophy on Monday night.

Steven Crowl, Max Klesmit, and John Tonje were part of the Salt Lake City Stars championship run through the 2025 Winter Showcase, which ended with the Stars defeated the unbeaten Raptors 905, 137-112, in Salt Lake City.

Badger boys ❤️#ItStartsHere | @BadgerMBB pic.twitter.com/TPzPrzg3fY
— Salt Lake City Stars (@slcstars) December 23, 2025

Tonje scored 10 points off the bench for the Stars, which won their second Winter Showcase championship in franchise history, with the first coming during the inaugural tournament in 2019. The Stars are the NBA G-League affiliate of the Utah Jazz.

The Stars are the top-scoring team in the G League at 133.6 points per game, as well as three-point percentage (39.3) and free throw percentage (82.4).

Tonje - a second-round pick of Utah in June's NBA Draft - is averaging 13.5 points and 3.5 rebounds for the Stars. He's had some big moments for the Stars, including a 30-point performance on December 2nd and a 29-point game on December 16.

The rookie WENT OFF! ⭐️@utahjazz Two-Way signee John Tonje scored a career-high 30 PTS in the @slcstars 31-point win over the Lakers. pic.twitter.com/JjKMJ2I7Ir
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) December 3, 2025

Crowl and Klesmit signed free agent contract with the Stars and have been sparingly used. Crowl averaged 1.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.7 assists while Klesmit averaged 1.2 points in 2.1 minutes during the tip-off tournament.

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