Takeaways from Wisconsin guard John Blackwell's transfer decision
· Yahoo Sports
The Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball program needs to take a look in the mirror after losing John Blackwell.
The program's three-year star point guard just posted a career high of 19.1 points per game. Knowing Nick Boyd was graduating, the last thing Greg Gard needed was Blackwell to exit as well.
Visit michezonews.co.za for more information.
On April 6, that's exactly what happened. Blackwell announced his intentions to not only enter the transfer portal but also go through the NBA draft process once again. Blackwell still has one year of eligibility remaining, but he's more likely than not to spend his final season of college basketball outside of Madison, Wisconsin.
Here are three immediate takeaways from Blackwell's decision to enter the transfer portal.
1. College basketball has no loyalty
Time and time again, college athletes are proving loyalty means nothing. No matter how much Gard or this program invested into Blackwell, money talks, and the Badgers' lack of success in the NCAA Tournament certainly didn't help their case either.
Blackwell enters the portal having played 105 games in Wisconsin. He started 72 of those as he posted 1,505 all-time points with the program. Star players leaving their school isn't exclusive to Wisconsin, but that doesn't make it sting any less.
2. Badgers need another point guard
While it was great to see Gard be able to flip Australian point guard Owen Foxwell from LSU, that simply isn't going to cut it. If Wisconsin only needed to replace Boyd, that would've been a tremendous addition, but now the Badgers are in quite a predicament.
The transfer portal officially opens on Tuesday, April 7. If Gard and the rest of the coaching staff don't go all out to find Boyd and Blackwell's replacements, this team is going to be in bad shape heading into the 2026-27 season.
3. Blackwell's career may have ended in Madison
Blackwell tested the NBA draft waters a year ago before returning to Wisconsin, but this time, things are different. The chances of him coming back are basically non-existent now that he's going through the draft process and entering the portal.
That said, not all hope is lost. Badgers fans were quick to jump on Blackwell's decision, but he could decide this is the year he declares for the draft, and his Wisconsin career would have come to an end either way.
Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.
This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin basketball loses John Blackwell transfer portal takeaways