Three Skills Owen Foxwell Immediately Brings to Wisconsin Basketball

The Badgers' offseason reload began in earnest Saturday, when Wisconsin basketball added a key piece to its 2026-27 roster by flipping Australian LSU commit Owen Foxwell in the class of 2026.

This is a huge pickup for the backcourt-needy Badgers, who will lose their starting point guard Nick Boyd to graduation. There's plenty more work to be done in terms of adding talent to this roster, but Foxwell is a huge first step.

Let's take a look at three things the Aussie point guard will immediately bring to the Kohl Center in Madison.

Three-Level Scoring Ability

Point guards need to do a whole lot more than score, but no one is blind to the fact that Boyd averaged 20.7 points and his departure leaves a gaping hole in the offense. Whoever replaces him is going to need to be able to go get bucket.

Foxwell averaged 11.1 points per game in the 2025-26 NBL season, but don't let that modest figure discourage you. Pop on his highlights, and you see a distinct ability to find the bottom of the net at all three levels.

First of all, he's a career 37 percent three-point shooter in the NBL. He can certainly catch and shoot the three, but what really gets you excited is his ability to create looks for himself on the perimeter, often with his signature step-back.

Once he gets inside the arc, Foxwell also has plenty of touch from the midrange. And inside the paint, he's extremely crafty, with a robust floater/runner package and excellent touch around the rim as well.

Vision and Faciliation

Don't get me wrong — Boyd was certainly a skilled passer in his own right. He averaged a career-high 4.3 assists with the Badgers in 2025-26. But Foxwell might arrive in Madison an even better facilitator than the point guard he replaces.

In the 2025-26 NBL season, Foxwell averaged 4.5 assists per game. The year prior, a season in which he only played 11 games, he averaged 8.0 assists per game. Foxwell has a tremendous feel for the court and where his teammates are going to be. He's especially good off the pick and roll, where he favors the bounce pass to set his cutting and rolling teammates up for easy buckets.

Foxwell has good handles as well, which helps him set defenders up and skip passes quickly off the dribble. That also helps him drive to the hoop, which of course opens up the spacing on the court.

Veteran Experience

Big Ten basketball is an entirely different game, but let's not discount the validity of six total seasons in the NBL and 111 career games. Foxwell is a grizzled veteran at this point.

Foxwell will waltz into Madison as a 22-year old. He's played against former NCAA stars such as Tyger Campbell (UCLA) and Tyson Walker (Michigan State), and he's also competed on the international stage as well.

That maturity may be his most valuable asset, especially for a point guard. If Foxwell is indeed the man primed to run the Badgers' offense in 2026-27, Wisconsin has an accomplished, grizzled veteran who's played high-level basketball for six years.