Wisconsin Native Who Thrived at Small School Hits Transfer Portal

With thousands of players available via the transfer portal each year, programs often lean on prior relationships and connections when creating prospect big boards. Familiarity not only helps teams identify which players could be good fits, it also helps them land their commitment.

Wisconsin never extended an offer to Brookfield native Nolan Minessale coming out of high school, but it has a chance to rectify that in the transfer portal. The rising junior has departed St. Thomas and is officially on the open market.

St. Thomas-Minnesota sophomore Nolan Minessale has entered the transfer portal, source told ESPN. First-team All-Summit selection averaged 19.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists this past season, shooting better than 50% from the field.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) April 10, 2026

Minessale's Resume

Minessale is pretty obviously a high-major talent. After immediately earning a starting role at St. Thomas as a freshman in 2024-25 and turning in a solid debut season, averaging 11.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists, he exploded as a sophomore, posting 19.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals. That earned a spot on the All-Summit League First-Team, as well as the All-Defensive Team and All-Tournament Team. He also finished the 2025-26 season as a Lou Henson Mid-Major Player of the Year Finalist.

Back at Marquette University High School, Minessale totaled 22.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.0 block per game and shot 60.1 percent overall and led the Hilltoppers to their first state title since 1999.

Still, Minessale didn't attract any high-major talent coming out of high school. He listed offers from Green Bay and South Dakota in addition to St. Thomas, failing to draw the eyeballs of bigger schools despite his big-time production and some legit athleticism:

Nolan Minessale throwing down the HAMMER 🔨 👀 @nolanminessale_ @academy_chapman #NY2LASummerJam2K23 pic.twitter.com/QKHvRgJRgF
— NY2LASPORTS.TV (@NY2LASPORTSTV) July 7, 2023

At 6-foot-5, Minessale could man the two or three guard spot for Wisconsin, but he could also play a little point guard if needed. The assist numbers (4.3 assists per game as a sophomore) are obviously strong, and he averaged more assists than St. Thomas' actual point guard last season.

Minessale's facilitation is largely predicated on his ability to slash and get downhill, and then find open shooters with a pass. He's skilled at manipulating defenses that over-help on him, and he can also take it to the rack himself, averaging 6.8 free throw attempts per game.

The Badgers have their point guard for 2025-26 locked up with the Australian Owen Foxwell having flipped from LSU. It also has its primary big man all but locked up in Nolan Winter. With the one and the five locked in, Wisconsin now needs its remaining starting lineup and has plenty of flexibility to do so with guards, wings and forwards. The Badgers need scoring, athleticism and playmaking at those spots — all of which Minessale would provide in spades.