After John Tonje's remarkable single-season impact at Wisconsin, the Badgers' next wave of veteran transfers include some potential impact players.
MADISON — At this time a year ago, Missouri transfer John Tonje was coming off a season hindered by a recurring foot injury and was hardly on the national radar.
The Wisconsin guard did not even receive any votes for first or second-team all-Big Ten in the Indianapolis Star’s annual preseason media poll.
Now, Tonje is on a two-way contract with the Utah Jazz after earning unanimous first-team all-Big Ten honors and second-team All-America honors.
“We were able to help him elevate his game and now get to the NBA,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said last month during a visit to the Journal Sentinel. “Whether they’re with us for a whole slate of their college career or just a small piece, we’re here to try to help them.”
Tonje’s single-season transformation would obviously be an unfair expectation for anyone to replicate. But the Badgers have several candidates for a somewhat-Tonje-esque breakout after transferring to UW for their senior seasons.
Wisconsin has five incoming transfers
The five incoming transfers will need to play an important role on a team which lost the players responsible for 67.5% of last year’s minutes. Four of those five transfers are seniors in their final year of eligibility. (The one exception is former Portland forward Austin Rapp, who will be a sophomore in 2025-26.)
Nick Boyd arrived after four seasons at Florida Atlantic and San Diego State, which included FAU’s improbable 2023 Final Four run. (Boyd still has eligibility because of a redshirt year and a COVID-19 year.)
Brookfield native Andrew Rohde’s homecoming followed one season at St. Thomas and two seasons at Virginia. He shot 41.3% from 3-point range last year and was third in the ACC with a 33.5% assist rate in conference games, per KenPom.
Fellow guard Braeden Carrington, a former Minnesota Mr. Basketball out of high school, played two years at Minnesota and one year at Tulsa.
Forward Elijah Gray spent two seasons at Fordham and one year at Temple before choosing the Badgers over Minnesota and Memphis.
“They’ve always been a program that’s sending people to the next level,” Carrington said. “One of my biggest things is I want to go to a place where I know I can go to the next level. Knowing it’s my last year, I don’t want to go to a place where I kind of just fizzle out. I also wanted to go to a place that I knew we’re going to win. So the fact that they’ve been a winning program year after year — it was such a draw to me.”
Benefits the Badgers offer
What Tonje did a year ago at the Kohl Center — while certainly not the only recent example of UW’s ability to produce NBA talent — is perhaps Exhibit A for some of the benefits that the Badgers have for Carrington.
“Obviously you’re going to look at that and be like, ‘Maybe that could be me,’” Carrington said. “But obviously you’re a different player. Nothing ever goes the same for everybody. But I just knew that if I came here, the coaches were getting the best out of me, and that’s what I needed.”
Gray pointed to the Badgers’ culture that emphasizes togetherness over individualism as things that stood out to him as a portal recruit. But he also was not aloof to what Tonje did in one season under Gard’s tutelage either.
“It kind of stood out to me,” Gray said. “I liked what he did a lot, and I could see myself having some type of value like that to this team this year. It might not be the same type of role, but I could definitely see myself having the same pretty big impact this year.”
Rohde thought it was “amazing seeing a guy like that transfer and have the impact that he did have.” Boyd described Tonje’s success as the “cherry on top” for Wisconsin although there were many other factors that led him to the Badgers.
Credit to John Tonje
As Tonje’s quick development pays dividends to the Wisconsin staff on the recruiting trail, Gard also is quick to share credit with Tonje himself for making that happen.
“He could have easily come in with all the answers, knowing he only had eight months to go, and he was the complete opposite,” Gard said at UW’s local media day. “He asked a lot of questions. He had an extra notepad in addition to the notebook that every player has. He was constantly taking notes. He was constantly watching film.”
What Tonje did “really starts with his unselfishness,” Gard said.
“If you’re willing to listen and learn and be unselfish and commit yourself to be a part of something bigger than yourself, as I said before, good things are probably going to happen. Doesn’t guarantee it, but it puts the odds in your favor quite a bit.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin’s transfers eye making impact after John Tonje’s big year
Category: General Sports
