Will Wisconsin Transfer Addition Victory Onuetu Start for the Badgers?

With 14 out of 15 players on the 2026-27 roster locked and loaded, Wisconsin basketball has a great sense of what it's going to look like next season.

Relying on a tasteful mix of transfers, international prospects and freshmen, head coach Greg Gard, general manager Marc VandeWettering and company deftly navigated what once looked like a daunting offseason in which they initially had seven roster spots to fill.

The dust has mostly settled on the Badgers' offseason; over a month ago, we had a reasonable estimation of their starting five.

But a player who could upend the expected, status-quo starting lineup? Former Hofstra Pride center Victory Onuetu.

The rising senior brings an intriguing skillset that's at the very least worth consideration for a slot among the starters. Could Onuetu start, or perhaps more pertinently, should he? Badgers On SI takes a look below:

The case for starting Onuetu

Former Hofstra Pride forward Victory Onuetu (6) dunks against Alabama Crimson Tide forward Taylor Bol Bowen (7). | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Onuetu was brought in for a very specific reason — he solves a few of the Badgers' very specific problems.

Overall, Wisconsin left a lot to be desired on defense in 2025-26. It had its second-worst adjusted defensive rating under Greg Gard (56th nationally), and was exposed on that end of the court in its March Madness meltdown against High Point.

Onuteu, meanwhile, is a defensive chess piece. He's in the 97th percentile of Defensive Win Shares per 40 Minutes (according to CBBAnalytics.com), an all-encompassing defensive metric that translates to: the Spanish-born center is lights out on the defensive end. In particular, he thrives as a shot blocker, with a stellar 6.7 percent block rate.

Wisconsin also struggled to pull down offensive rebounds last season, ranking 232nd nationally. Onuetu, meanwhile, is as good as they come in that department with an offensive rebounding percentage of 17.0, good for the 99th percentile of players. Last season, over a third of his points came on second-chance opportunities; Onuetu dominates the glass and cleans up possessions.

Stylistically, Onuetu is also a lob threat around the rim and quite mobile for his size. He's a hyper-athletic, rebound-gobbling big man with quick feet, the likes of which we may have never even seen in Madison.

The case against starting Onuetu

Former Hofstra Pride forward Victory Onuetu. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Compared for the other two Badger big men in consideration for the four and five spots (Nolan Winter, Austin Rapp), Onuetu has only one season of college hoops under his belt and has yet to experience a Big Ten season.

He primarily came off the bench last season for Hofstra, especially down the stretch, and when he did start he averaged just 21.6 minutes. To assume Onuetu could replicate his defensive impact in an expanded role, up a level in competition, isn't entirely out of the question but it certainly involves a lot of projection.

Offensively, Onuetu doesn't bring much to the table other than around the rim. He didn't attempt a three-point shot last season, and neither his true shooting percentage (56.5) nor his free-throw percentage (51.7) inspire much confidence. Considering 85 percent of his points last season came in the paint, he would need to step his efficiency up a notch in a starting role.

Onuetu also has some other areas to clean up, like a 20.5 turnover percentage and a propensity to get called for personal fouls.

The verdict

In theory, taking Onuetu's massive defensive impact and transposing that into starter-level minutes would be great. I don't see it being that simple, especially as the center navigates the jump to the Big Ten.

Onuetu is the kind of player you want operating at full speed whenever he's on the court, because his impact around the rim can be electrifying. Force him to play starter minutes and conserve energy at times, and you lose some of that explosiveness.

With that being said, the ability to insert a defender like Onuetu off the bench while having a starting five that can all shoot lights out from three looks like the Badgers' most dangerous lineup option next season.

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