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'We know it starts with us:' How John Blackwell and Nick Boyd's bond has transformed Wisconsin Badgers

Boyd and Blackwell's relationship was built on their competitiveness, but it took a lot of time for the two to meld their drastically different playstyles and demeanors.
Cam Wilhorn|
Wisconsin guard John Blackwell (25), left, celebrates a play against Michigan with guard Nick Boyd (2) during the second half at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026.
Wisconsin guard John Blackwell (25), left, celebrates a play against Michigan with guard Nick Boyd (2) during the second half at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

John Blackwell and Nick Boyd don't have much in common on the basketball court.

Blackwell wants to go through defenders. Boyd wants to go around. Blackwell always looks calm. Boyd lets his emotions show. Blackwell leads by example. Boyd leads vocally.

There's one attribute the pair share: a drive to compete, and win.

Bringing the two players who Wisconsin Badgers head coach Greg Gard has called "alpha's," together hasn't been the easiest process, but it's been one that's yielded plenty of wins and changed both players for the better.

'Dang, this dude the real deal'

Roster turnover has grown since the transfer portal was introduced, which has put more stress on coaches and players to get their players to gel quickly.

When Blackwell announced he'd be withdrawing from the NBA Draft to return to Wisconsin and Boyd relayed his commitment to the Badgers, the pair wasted no time forming a relationship.

"Back in the Summer, I had a camp in Florida." Boyd said. "I asked (Blackwell) to come, and he was ready to go right away, so that spoke volumes to me. And then, obviously he bonded with some of my people out there who was at the camp. I mean, we just connected."

That, Blackwell said, was critical for the pair's relationship.

"Nowadays, you don't even get to know a guy for (more than) six, seven, eight, nine months, so it's important to form the bonds really early, and just see how each other act and move, and how ya'll can work... We're all here for a common goal, so seeing how we can reach the common goal together."

Although they may have not been incredibly familiar with each other's on-court tendencies or mentality, Boyd and Blackwell were aware they shared a strong competitive drive. So when they arrived in Madison, Gard didn't shy away from having the duo play against one another.

It was one of those sessions outside of practice that Boyd got the full picture of Blackwell's competitiveness.

"When I first got (to Madison), me and him played ones, and I was beating him, I was up like a couple shots and he came back," Boyd said. "It was a physical ones game, I had scratches all over me and stuff. He ended up coming back and making it close, I was up like 4-0 and he came back and tied it up, (I was) like ‘dang, this dude the real deal.’"

The physicality and fire Boyd played with in those sessions stood out to Blackwell as well.

"It wasn't no bad blood, just naturally competitors, dogs, going against each other. I like that. I like going at people. That makes me have more respect for you and more of a fan of you, (instead of) you backing down. and not competing again."

Becoming an elite backcourt

The Badgers were on track to miss the NCAA Tournament for the second time in four seasons until early January, when they ripped off a five-game win streak. Before that point, Wisconsin was 9-6 without any quality victories. The group looked disjointed offensively and struggled greatly on the defensive side.

But they improved and rattled off a quartet of ranked wins en route to a 22-9 regular-season record and a fifth-place finish in the Big Ten.

Gard didn't hesitate to point out the key to Wisconsin's turnaround.

"(Boyd and Blackwell) are, in terms of growing, those two guys have grown together. You know, if you peel back just the team component and look deeper, the functionality and compatibility of Blackwell and Boyd together has grown immensely since November. And that's a piece of our our ascent here as as we go forward."

In a conference loaded with guard talent and some of the best teams in the country, Boyd and Blackwell have shone brightest against top competition.

In the Badgers' road wins over Michigan, Illinois and Purdue, along with a home win over Michigan State, Boyd and Blackwell averaged a combined 49.5 points per game with a cumulative 30:9 AST:TO while shooting 51.5 percent from the field.

They were one of the most prolific scoring duos in the country throughout the regular season, with Boyd averaging 20.1 points, 4.0 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game while Blackwell posted 18.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals per contest.

Related: Ten stats that show why Wisconsin Badgers Nick Boyd should have been first-team All-Big Ten

"I think we just find different spots and different ways to find each other and different ways to feed off each other's energy," Blackwell said of their on-court development. "We know it starts with us, with our energy, whether it's offense or defense."

Blackwell, who is more reserved and tends to let his play do the talking, took his assessment of the pair's performance to another level after beating Purdue.

"I’m not the type of guy to, you know, say it, but I honestly look across the board, I think we’re the best backcourt in the country," Blackwell said. "We’re both just motivating each other out there, I think that's the best part of it. Like I'm telling him (it's) time to go, and I trust whatever he does. I'm trusting, I'm riding with it, and I know he's the same way for me. I know he trusts whatever I got going on. He's trusting and he's going with it, but I think we built this connection in the summer, and we're just going to steady building this connection, and keep getting better."

Pulling each other back to the emotional center

Boyd and Blackwell's drastically different demeanors could have made on-court interactions messy. Instead, Boyd and Blackwell have found a way to level each other's emotions through the highs and lows.

"Ferociously competetive is the way to describe Nick. He's a good counterpart with John," Gard said on the Jim Rome Show. "I compare (John) to a duck swimming on the water: Calm as heck on the surface and paddling like heck underneath. Nick is the opposite. I mean, he wears his heart on his sleeve, he's very emotional, he's a vocal leader."

"They both have different personalities that I think help each other. I think the fieriness of Boyd helps Blackwell and I think Blackwell's calmness at times helps Boyd."

Blackwell has worked through a pair slumps throughout the season, both as a shooter and as an impact player. At times, Blackwell's energy has lacked.

It's Boyd, who seemingly has an endless reserve of energy, who usually takes the lead, then, as an emotional leader.

"He a genuine person. He just shows love to everybody, whether it's a freshman who doesn't play that much or doesn't talk that much, or it's a leader on the team," Blackwell said of Boyd. "He's our emotional leader in a way, I'm more of a leader on the court... every team could use a guy like that."

Boyd hasn't been afraid to pump Blackwell up with confidence either.

"I have a confidence in him to just be himself out there. I always want him to be himself, just be aggressive… ‘Cause when he’s aggressive and he’s in that mind state, just like myself, he’s scary."

Blackwell has repaid the favor, showing Boyd how to keep his emotions from growing too strong. The lightning-fast guard can sometimes move too quickly for his own good, or try to do too much when the energy is flowing.

Boyd has picked up on Blackwell's poise, and tried to apply it to his own game.

"Just how to stay even-keeled throughout any situation," Boyd said of what he's learned from Blackwell. "Up-and-down, high-low situation, he always stays even keeled, has a smile on his face, and he's going to come back and keep working... the way he can just stay so relaxed and calm, and always have his head clear has been so impressive."

With the postseason starting, Boyd and Blackwell know their time together is coming to a close. Still, they intend on making it last as long as possible.

And for Boyd, who's in his last season at the college level, he's not letting any second go by unappreciated.

"In life, you get around good people, you develop relationships, you kind of look back on them and realize, you don’t really realize how much you guys went through together and you cherish those opportunities," Boyd said. " Even just doing a postgame interview together, that was special for me. I’m just hoping to create memories that we can last on for a lifetime."

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Cam Wilhorn
CAM WILHORN

Cam Wilhorn is a University of Wisconsin School of Journalism Graduate and Wisconsin native. He's been covering Wisconsin sports since 2023 for outlets like BadgerBlitz.com, Badger of Honor and The Badger Herald.

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