Why Baboucarr Ann, Jalen Brown Could Change Wisconsin Basketball

For all of the excitement Wisconsin basketball has produced the past few seasons, the Badgers have struggled to get over the hump and earn legitimate consideration as serious national contenders.

Take the 2025-26 campaign — Wisconsin deployed arguably the best backcourt duo in the nation between Nick Boyd and John Blackwell, each of whom averaged 20 points per game and orchestrated the No. 10-ranked offense in the country, per KenPom. The team rattled off five straight wins over top-15 teams, including two road upsets over top-10 teams (No. 2 Michigan, No. 8 Illinois) before ultimately losing in the Round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament.

The year prior, unheralded transfer wing John Tonje exploded onto the national scene and became an All-American, powering another high-flying Wisconsin offense that ultimately fell in the second round of March Madness.

So why is Wisconsin basketball so thrilling all of the sudden? The Badgers have a new-look, overseas-inspired, up-tempo offense that places a premium on three-point shooting and athletic, downhill guards that can pressure the rim. Initially implemented by former assistant coach Kirk Penny, the offensive revolution has only snowballed each year in Madison.

The Badgers have consistently taken more three-pointers in each of the past three-seasons, and consistently increased their offensive pace as well. The system caters to the dynamic backcourt players they've managed to land, and the result has been some of the most electrifying offenses in the nation the past three years.

Still, in order to field these kinds of teams, Wisconsin has needed to pull elite, extremely high-upside athletic guards out of the transfer portal to fill out its backcourt. For all of the Badgers' explosive guard play in recent years, the only true home-grown star has been John Blackwell — and he's very much an exception to the rule.

Wisconsin has struggled to recruit the kind of high school guards capable of operating in and facilitating its high-flying offense, especially ones who are able to do so immediately out of high school.

That could all be about to change.

Badgers' high school recruiting hits a new level

Wauwatosa West guard Jalen Brown. | Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Wisconsin made an enormous splash with its first signee of the 2027 class, reeling in consensus four-star combo guard Jalen Brown, who's ranked as the No. 70 player in the country by 247Sports and the No. 66 player nationally by On3/Rivals.

Brown is the kind of player the likes of which the Badgers have realistically never landed in Madison out of high school. A 6-foot-6 dynamic athlete with an effortless offensive game, Brown could start — and make some real noise — immediately.

But they didn't stop there. Thursday afternoon, Wisconsin secured a pledge from another consensus four-star, top-100 guard in Baboucarr Ann from Maple Grove, Minnesota.

Ann is similar to Brown in that they both possess tantalizing athleticism and well-rounded offensive games already. It's not hyperbole to say both have a great shot to start as freshmen.

The Badgers have had to rely on the portal for elite guard play. That's worked for them, but it's also not sustainable. Oftentimes, these transfers are one-year rentals and they get one shot to make an impact in the Cardinal and White.

But if Wisconsin begins consistently landing players like that out of high school? Everything could change. No longer would head coach Greg Gard and company need to rely finding most of the Badgers' offense in the portal if that talent is already in-house.

The transfer portal is a fact of life at this point; Wisconsin will undoubtably continue to tap in each and every offseason. But if the Badgers can land explosive, offensively gifted guards with NBA potential when they're high school juniors, not just when they have one year of college eligibility left? There's no telling how high this program could climb.

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