Wisconsin basketball’s top remaining target in the 2023 recruiting class breaks down his official visit to Madison:
On Thursday, 2023 three-star power forward Nolan Winter out of Lakeville, Minnesota, wrapped up a two-day official visit to the University of Wisconsin.
If Lakeville sounds familiar, it’s because UW has created a bit of a pipeline at Lakeville North High School in recent years – producing Badger forward’s Nate Reuvers and Tyler Wahl.
“The thing that stands out about Wisconsin is how early they started to recruit me, and from that day on, we’ve been in constant contact,” Winter told BadgersWire.
This visit represented the last time coach Gard and his coaching staff could push their chips all in on the 6-foot-11, 190-pound forward they have been in constant pursuit of since they offered back in June of 2021.
“The UW campus was just beautiful,” Winter said. “The college feel made it extra special; everybody there loves the Badgers, and the culture is awesome. The coaches and players are really cool, super easy to talk to, and are very nice.”
Per the 247sports Composite, Winter is the No. 208 overall prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, the No. 40 PF in the country, and the No. 2 player in Minnesota.
The stretch forward also holds offers from Minnesota, Stanford, Xavier, Oregon State, St. Thomas, Wake Forest, and Xavier.
“Wednesday, we had meetings and got in-depth tours of the campus. I also talked to Coach Gard a lot; he showed me their playing styles and how I could fit in perfectly with how they want to play. I also hung out with the players for a while and got to know them more.”
The Lakeville North High School standout is a lanky, stretch big man that excels in the pick and pop, is a good passer from the high post, and has a budding low-post game. He also moves well for his size and flashes the ability to take defenders off the dribble and use his height to score over them.
You can watch his highlights here.
“The staff sees me thriving at the four position and, over the years, transitioning into the 3,” Winter explained. “They compared me a lot to Sam Dekker and Jon Leuer. They also said they want me to have a big impact early on in my career.”
Along with strong academics, the 6-foot-11 forward is looking for a competitive program with an established culture, winning tradition, and a great relationship with the coaching staff.
But the question on everyone’s mind is, could Wisconsin’s top-of-the-board target see himself in the cardinal and white?
“I definitely could. Everything about UW is amazing, and it really does check all the boxes. Playing in Madison would be awesome, and more specifically in the Kohl center would be unreal.”
Winter, a Minnesota native, intends to take one last official visit to the University of Minnesota, where he has strong family ties to the program, and then make his final decision late in August.
“I really like the coaches. Coach Gard, coach Krabbenhoft, and the others are super easy to talk to and want what’s best for me. They [UW] are honest with me about where I’m at and say the sky’s the limit on where I could wind up – they can benefit me greatly in the long run.”
It’s no secret that Wisconsin desperately needs a big man to fill out their 2023 recruiting class and that they want it filled by Winter.
It’s easy to see the Howard Pulley standout’s potential fit within a program like UW, given their success utilizing inside-out big men with similar skill sets.
The three-star big man has been one of UW’s top targets for quite some time, and with a decision drawing near, the coaching staff must now wait and see if they did enough to pry the Minnesota legacy away from his home state.
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