Tag: 2024-25 Season

Wisconsin basketball legend is back in the NBA

Wisconsin basketball legend is back in the NBA

Wisconsin basketball legend Frank Kaminsky signed a training camp contract with the Phoenix Suns this week, according to his representation at Priority Sports.

Kaminsky is back in the NBA, at least for the time being, after playing the 2023-24 season with Partizan Belgrade in Serbia. He played 57 games during the team’s EuroLeague season, averaging 8.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists.

Related: Big Ten basketball teams ranked by returning production entering 2024-25 season

The former Badger played three seasons in Phoenix (2019-22). He played a consistent reserve role on the Suns team that lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2021 NBA Finals.

This season would be Kaminsky’s 11th in the NBA if he makes the Suns’ regular-season roster.

His career averages are 8.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists on 43% shooting and 35% from three. His best seasons came with the Charlotte Hornets in 2016-17 and 2017-18: He eclipsed 23 minutes and 11 points per game in each season.

Kaminsky’s college career needs no explanation. The 2015 National College Player of the Year and consensus first-team All-American was the driving force behind back-to-back trips to the Final Four and the program getting on the doorstep of winning a national title. His No. 44 is retired in the Kohl Center rafters.

The Badger great joins Johnny Davis (Washington Wizards) and Micah Potter (Utah Jazz) as the only former Badgers in the NBA. All three are looking to carve out significant roles entering the upcoming season.

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LOOK: Wisconsin basketball releases jersey numbers for 2024-25 season

LOOK: Wisconsin basketball releases jersey numbers for 2024-25 season

The Wisconsin men’s basketball program officially released each player’s jersey number ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Wisconsin welcomes six new faces to campus this fall after an offseason featuring a monumental shift in personnel.

Greg Gard and company added three top transfers: Central Arkansas guard Camren Hunter, Missouri guard John Tonje and Northern Illinois forward Xavier Amos.

The three will fill the voids left by star forward AJ Storr, fan-favorite point guard Chucky Hepburn and shooter Connor Essegian after the trio transferred to Kansas, Louisville and Nebraska, respectively.

Hunter, good for 16.9 points, 5 rebounds and 3.9 assists on 42% shooting and 31% from 3 as a sophomore in 2022-23, will wear No. 3 next season — Essegian’s former number with UW.

Amos, a stretch-forward who accounted for 13.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.8 steals and 1.3 blocks on 57% shooting and 38% from 3 in 2023-24 will wear No. 13 for Wisconsin this winter.

The Badgers’ final transfer, John Tonje, a reserve guard for Missouri in 2023-24 with 14.6-point, 4.7-rebounds and 1.3-assist averages at Colorado State under his belt in 2022-23, will wear No. 9.

 

Freshman Daniel Freitag, the No. 103 in class of 2024, No. 11 point guard, No. 3 from state of Minnesota will sport No. 5, the same number Tyler Wahl wore for five seasons.

Fellow newcomer Jack Robison, 247Sports’ No. 145 overall prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, the No. 34 SF in the country and the No. 3 player in Minnesota, will suit up as No. 2. Superstar forward AJ Storr wore the jersey number last season for Wisconsin.

Serbian signee Andrija Vukovic will wear No. 19 this fall as well. His addition was Gard’s latest ahead of UW’s home opener in November.

Report: Wisconsin basketball to play Holy Cross in 2024-25 season opener

Report: Wisconsin basketball to play Holy Cross in 2024-25 season opener

The Wisconsin Badgers will reportedly host the Holy Cross Crusaders for their 2024-25 season opener on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, at the Kohl Center, according to college basketball analyst Rocco Miller.

UW’s compiled a 22-14 overall mark in 2023-24 after being ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation in February. Wisconsin would ultimately earn a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 12 James Madison in the first round.

Since that point, Greg Gard’s program experienced a seismic shift in personnel.

Wisconsin reworked its roster this offseason with the addition of three top transfers: Central Arkansas guard Camren Hunter, Missouri guard John Tonje and Northern Illinois forward Xavier Amos. Those three players will fill the voids left by the departures of star point guard Chucky Hepburn (transfer), A.J. Storr (transfer) and Tyler Wahl (graduation).

Serbian signee Andrija Vukovic, point guard Daniel Freitag and guard Jack Robison will also don the scarlet and red as freshmen during the 2024-25 season. Freitag, a top-ranked class of 2024 prospect, will look to ignite UW’s backcourt in a now-loaded 18-team conference.

The Badgers will also host 10 Big Ten opponents this season, including new conference foes Washington and Oregon. Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State also will venture to Madison, Wisconsin for contests in the Kohl Center.

Most notably, Greg Gard and company will travel to Los Angeles for bouts against UCLA and USC, the other two Big Ten additions for the 2024-2025 campaign. Wisconsin also will visit Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue and Rutgers.

The Badgers will also participate in the 2024-25 Greenbrier Tip-Off event featuring LSU, Pittsburgh and UCF, and will face Butler in a neutral site contest this season.

Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer says there are no ‘guaranteed minutes’ for 2024-25 roster

Despite loads of star power, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said on Tuesday that no player got a guaranteed role on his 2024-25 locker room.

Between No. 1 overall prospect Cooper Flagg, five other top-50 freshmen, and a top-20 transfer class, there won’t be a shortage of star power in Durham next season.

However, just because guys like Flagg and five-star center Khaman Maluach seem like locks for the 2025 NBA draft lottery and transfers like Sion James and Mason Gillis have one year of eligibility left, head coach Jon Scheyer isn’t willing to dole out minutes out of obligation.

In a Tuesday article from The News & Observer’s Steve Wiseman, Scheyer said no player on the 2024-25 roster will get his spot handed to him.

“There wasn’t going to be promises or assurances for anybody in terms of guaranteed minutes or guaranteed starting,” Scheyer said in the story. “Our programs are built on competition. And we’re doubling down on that at a time where the environment makes you or puts you in a position to promise things.”

Entering his third season at the helm of the men’s basketball program, Scheyer has routinely praised his incoming class of players for their competitive nature. He talked up Flagg’s motor in an ACC Network segment earlier this month. It seems like every player on the Blue Devils knows the deal ahead of next season.

Duke basketball 2024-25 roster includes Spencer Hubbard, Neal Begovich, and Stanley Borden

The Duke Blue Devils released the jersey numbers of its 2024-25 roster on Tuesday, and Spencer Hubbard and other familiar faces were included.

The Duke Blue Devils men’s basketball team revealed its 2024-25 roster on Tuesday, and three familiar faces will be back in Durham next season.

Spencer Hubbard, Neal Begovich, and Stanley Borden will all suit up for head coach Jon Scheyer again this fall.

Hubbard, a 5-foot-8 guard and Durham crowd favorite, spent the 2020-21 season on the practice squad before earning a walk-on spot as a sophomore the next season. He’s scored seven career points, six of which came last season, and he buried his first 3-pointer against Louisville in February that resulted in one of the loudest roars of the season.

Begovich transferred from Stanford after the 2022-23 season, and he scored two points and grabbed four rebounds in eight games played during his debut Duke season. Both Begovich and Hubbard only have one season of eligibility remaining.

Borden, on the other hand, didn’t graduate high school until 2021. The senior 7-footer from Turkey has played in two career games, but he’s come down with two rebounds in two career minutes.

Check out Duke’s full 2024-25 roster with new uniform numbers here.

Illinois head coach says Duke will battle Illini at Madison Square Garden in February

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood revealed at the NBA Draft Combine on Tuesday that Duke and Illinois plan to battle in New York next February.

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood spoke with basketball reporter Andy Katz at the NBA Draft Combine on Tuesday, and he provided an update on the Illini’s ongoing work to schedule a 2024-25 game with Duke.

According to Underwood, the game hasn’t been finalized yet, but the two teams are aiming for an unconventional time frame. The Blue Devils might face Illinois deep into their conference schedule.

“We’re working on a game, it’s not finalized, with Duke in the Garden at a unique time,” Underwood said. “We’re going to do it in February.”

Last season, Duke’s last non-conference game was played on December 30. The Blue Devils last played a Power 6 school from outside the ACC on December 20 when they played Baylor, their most recent game at Madison Square Garden.

Duke has played 13 games over the last 10 years at Madison Square Garden, winning 10 of them. They took down a ranked Bears team 78-70 last year after a game-high 21 points from Jared McCain.

The Blue Devils also have an unscheduled Las Vegas battle with Kansas in the works.

247Sports analyst predicts Cooper Flagg will win ACC Rookie of the Year in 2024-25

247Sports’ Brandon Jenkins predicted next year’s best freshmen in each major conference on Thursday, and he went chalk in the ACC.

247Sports scout and recruiting analyst Brandon Jenkins went conference by conference to predict the best freshmen in the country on Thursday. His selection for the ACC should be no surprise.

Jenkins predicted that Duke signee Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 prospect in the final 2024 ranking, would win ACC Rookie of the Year honors.

The 6-foot-9 Maine native is already getting the word ‘generational’ tossed around about his potential, and NBA fans even have one eye on the 2025 draft as they await his future. He’ll be the most anticipated Blue Devils signee since Zion Williamson.

“The Blue Devils project to be one of the best teams in the country next season and Flagg is the primary reason why,” Jenkins wrote.

The Blue Devils have contended for this award in each of the past three seasons. Paolo Banchero and Kyle Filipowski won the honor in near-unanimous fashion in 2022 and 2023, respectively, before the sharpshooting Jared McCain finished second in this year’s voting.

Duke reportedly will host George Mason on December 17

According to Jon Rothstein, KD Johnson and the George Mason Patriots will be one of Duke’s last non-conference games in 2024-25.

The Cameron Crazies won’t know the full 2024-25 schedule for a while now, but one day on the calendar might have been revealed on Wednesday.

CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, one of the foremost college basketball insiders, reported that the Blue Devils will host George Mason on December 17. He shared the news through X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

The Patriots would be one of the last non-conference games on Duke’s 2024-25 schedule if the report is accurate. During the 2023-24 season, the Blue Devils played their last non-ACC opponent on December 30.

Duke played George Mason once in school history, a 69-53 victory back in December 2006. Head coach Jon Scheyer actually scored 18 points as a freshman in that game, making four of his seven 3-point attempts.

Former Auburn guard KD Johnson committed to the Patriots last month. He averaged 7.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 1.1 assists as a senior for the Tigers last season, but he made just 37.8% of his attempts and 27.1% of his threes.

The Blue Devils have also been linked to both Kansas and Illinois during the non-conference schedule, but neither game has been officially announced.

Duke and Illinois could play at Madison Square Garden next season

Per a Tuesday report from Jon Rothstein, the Blue Devils could end up battling Illinois at Madison Square Garden next season.

According to a Tuesday report from national basketball insider Jon Rothstein, the Blue Devils are finalizing an agreement with Illinois to play at Madison Square Garden during the 2024-25 season.

Rothstein’s report said that neither a timetable for the agreement nor a specific day for the game has been specified.

Last season, the Fighting Illini finished with a 29-9 record before being assigned as the No. 3 seed in the East region. Illinois made it all the way to the Elite Eight before losing to Connecticut, the eventual national champion.

Head coach Brad Underwood’s team finished as a top-10 team in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency margin.

The two schools haven’t faced off since December 2020, when Illinois took down the Blue Devils 83-68 thanks to 18 points from Ayo Dosunmu. Duke’s Matthew Hurt finished with a game-high 19 points.

The report comes weeks after a similar report that the Blue Devils would battle Kansas next season on a neutral court in Las Vegas.

Duke wide receiver Mehki Wall enters the transfer portal

Duke wide receiver Mekhi Wall, a former three-star prospect from the Class of 2022, entered the transfer portal on Wednesday.

Duke wide receiver Mehki Wall entered the transfer portal on Wednesday, as first reported by 247Sports’ Adam Rowe.

Wall, a three-star prospect from the Class of 2022, was the second Blue Devil to enter the portal on Wednesday. Redshirt freshman Ethan Hubbard threw his name to the market earlier that day.

Last season, as a redshirt freshman, Wall hauled in six passes for 38 yards. He caught his first collegiate touchdown against Virginia on November 18, when he recorded five of his six career catches for 36 yards.

Even without Wall, the Blue Devils had 13 other receivers on their 2024 spring football roster. Star wideout Jordan Moore caught a long touchdown from new quarterback Maalik Murphy during Saturday’s spring game, and graduate student Eli Pancol hauled in a one-handed catch during spring practice.

Whether he addresses the receiver position or not, first-year head coach Manny Diaz said that the Blue Devils would pick up more players in the transfer portal before the season begins.