After one of the most hectic multi-week stretches the sport has ever seen, the college basketball transfer portal is finally closed and commitments are slowing down.
Many teams – like the Badgers, who have just one more spot to fill on their 2026-27 roster – have largely finished building their squads for next season.
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As such, early reviews of transfer portal hauls are beginning to trickle in from national outlets. The Field of 68’s Rob Dauster recently included Wisconsin as one of his transfer portal “losers” this offseason, also featuring “The Blue Bloods” (Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas), St. John’s, LSU and San Diego State.
“If you are Wisconsin and you are losing the likes of John Blackwell to the portal, that’s an incredibly big void you need to fill,” he said on the outlet’s podcast. “It is very, very difficult to replace a guy, I mean, John Blackwell might be a first-team All American.”
Now, nothing Dauster said about the Badgers losing John Blackwell is incorrect. He does leave an incredibly big void to fill, and he is incredibly difficult to replace. But the notion that Wisconsin losing Blackwell to the portal makes them a “loser” in the offseason portal cycle is laughable. It’s a ridiculously narrow-minded take on something that should be viewed holistically.
Blackwell was widely expected to leave
Former Wisconsin Badgers guard John Blackwell. | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images
Does that soften the blow of his departure? No, not really. But let’s be honest about where Wisconsin stands in the hierarchy of college basketball teams. It’s a highly consistent and well-respected program, but it’s not considered a Blue Blood. It’s not considered one of the nation’s elite. It’s not given a chance to win a national title year after year like many other big-time programs.
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Blackwell was universally considered to be a top-five portal prospect. Duke, where Blackwell transferred to, is universally considered to be in a higher tier than Wisconsin. Not only that, it’s significantly better funded.
Does a better, richer program poaching a star player from a worse, poorer program make the latter program a portal “loser?” No. That’s simply the reality of modern college sports.
The rest of the Badgers’ portal class looks strong
Miami (OH) RedHawks wing Eian Elmer. | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
The only justification Dauster gave for putting Wisconsin in his transfer portal “losers” category was the departure of Blackwell. But of course, the Badgers didn’t simply throw in the towel after losing him. The rest of their work in the transfer portal looks extremely promising.
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Wisconsin signed dynamic Miami University wing Eian Elmer, a four-star transfer portal prospect on both On3/Rivals and 247Sports. It also signed Trey Autry from George Washington and Victory Onuetu from Hofstra. Autry is a consensus three-star portal prospect, while Onuetu is a four-star on On3/Rivals and and three-star on 247Sports.
That is to say, the Badgers added some impressive players in their own right. But arguably their biggest win in the transfer portal was retaining star stretch forward Nolan Winter, who averaged 13.1 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 57 percent from the floor. They also re-signed sharpshooting big man Austin Rapp. Both of those players would’ve easily been blue-chip prospects in the portal.
Overall, Dauster deeming Wisconsin a transfer portal “looser” because it was unable to retain the national superstar Blackwell is ludicrous. It’s absolutely a big loss, but the Badgers did plenty of other great work both with additions and retentions. I wouldn’t say the Badgers “won” the transfer portal, but they certainly didn’t lose it.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/wisconsin as National Outlet Dubs Wisconsin a Transfer Portal ‘Loser’-Here’s Why They’re Wrong.
