Aidan Konop Enters Transfer Portal: Reshaping the Wisconsin Badgers Roster

The Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team is undergoing significant changes as the transfer portal season progresses. Following their NCAA tournament loss to BYU, the team bid farewell to six players who exhausted their eligibility. Coach Greg Gard is now actively reshaping the roster to meet the 15-player limit set by the Wisconsin administration. Among the recent developments, freshman guard Aidan Konop has entered the transfer portal.

Aidan Konop's Departure

Aidan Konop, a 6-foot-2 guard from Sussex, Wisconsin, joined the Badgers as a preferred walk-on ahead of the 2024-25 season. However, with the team needing to reduce its roster size from 17 to 15 players, there was no room to keep Konop. He will have three years of eligibility remaining.

Konop announced his decision via X, stating, "Thank you, Wisconsin! Grateful for the relationships I've built with my coaches and teammates. I am entering the transfer portal with 3 years of eligibility left!"

During his time with the Badgers, Konop appeared in four games, playing a total of four minutes. All of his appearances came in the closing minutes of decided games against Holy Cross, Appalachian State, Detroit Mercy, and Washington. He did not attempt a shot in those games.

High School Success

Prior to joining the Badgers, Konop had a successful high school career at Sussex Hamilton High School. As a senior, he averaged 20 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals per game. He also shot over 50% from the field and 40% from three-point range. Konop earned first-team all-Greater Metro Conference honors and led Sussex Hamilton to an appearance in the WIAA regional final.

Read also: The Context of UCLA Protests

Other Roster Changes

Konop is the fourth Badger to enter the transfer portal this offseason, joining point guard Daniel Freitag, guard Camren Hunter, and forward Chris Hodges. Additionally, several players departed due to graduation, including John Tonje, Steven Crowl, Max Klesmit, Kamari McGee, Carter Gilmore, and Markus Ilver.

Departures via Transfer Portal:

Xavier Amos (6-7 Forward): Amos transferred to Loyola Chicago after averaging 3.5 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 9.6 minutes per game.
Camren Hunter (6-2 Guard): Hunter returned to Central Arkansas after struggling with injury and illness. He played 20 minutes over 11 games and scored three points.
Daniel Freitag (6-2 Guard): Freitag committed to Buffalo after playing 27 minutes over 14 games and scoring two points.
Chris Hodges (6-9 Forward): Hodges committed to Montana State after playing in 39 games and 68 minutes in three seasons.

Departures via Graduation:

John Tonje
Steven Crowl
Max Klesmit
Kamari McGee
Carter Gilmore
Markus Ilver

New Additions

Despite the departures, the Badgers have also added several players to their roster for the upcoming season.

Incoming Transfers:

Andrew Rohde (6-6 Guard): A former Brookfield Central standout, Rohde transferred from Virginia. He previously played at St. Thomas (Minn.). In his career, Rohde has made 127 three-pointers, scoring 951 points with 332 assists and 263 rebounds while playing in 94 games with 84 starts.
Austin Rapp (6-9 Forward): Rapp transferred from Portland, where he shot 35.2% on his 236 three-point attempts. He also ranked second on the team in scoring (13.5 ppg) and first in rebounding (6.5 rpg).

Other Additions for 2025-26 Season:

Elijah Gray (6-9 Forward): The Temple transfer played his first two seasons at Fordham. Last season at Temple he averaged nine points, 3.8 rebounds in 19.8 minutes per game off the bench.
Aleksas Bieliauskas (6-11 Forward/Center): The native of Lithuania comes to Wisconsin from Zalgiris II. He ranked third on the team in scoring (12.1 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg.) while shooting 39% from three-point range.
Braeden Carrington (6-5 Guard): The transfer from Tulsa played his first two seasons at Minnesota. Carrington had career highs in scoring (7.4 ppg), rebounds (4.8 rpg) and assists (1.7 apg).
Nick Boyd (6-3 Guard): Boyd spent last season at San Diego State and played three seasons at Florida Atlantic, where he was the starting point guard for its 2023 Final Four team. He started every game last season, posting averages of 13.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.

Gard's Comments

Coach Greg Gard expressed his excitement about the new additions, highlighting their experience and skill sets.

On Elijah Gray: "We're excited to welcome Elijah to the Badger family. He brings a lot of experience to the table having three years of college hoops under his belt. We're excited to have him on campus this summer and work with us for the upcoming season."
On Aleksas Bieliauskas: "We are excited to have Aleksas join us. His size and experience will be an immediate asset to our program. As we've watched the collegiate recruiting landscape expand internationally, our staff has done a phenomenal job of identifying and connecting with some very good prospects. Aleksas is excited to get to Madison this summer and we can't wait to help him continue to grow as a student-athlete as he transitions to our program and university."
On Braeden Carrington: "Braeden brings three years of college basketball experience to our program along with a level of maturity and understanding of the Big Ten that is crucial in today's landscape of roster composition. We've followed his career since he was in high school where he won a state championship in Minnesota. He knows our program and several of our current and former players very well which made for an easy and comfortable transition for him to come back to the Big Ten. We're excited to have Braeden on campus starting in June as we prepare our team for the 2025-26 season."
On Nick Boyd: "We are thrilled to add someone as talented and experienced as Nick. He is a big-time leader and winner and we know he'll fit into our locker room from day one. He's been on the biggest stage, starting for Florida Atlantic's 2023 Final Four team and played a lot of high-level basketball. Everyone we talked to throughout the process stressed his tremendous leadership and his ability to impact winning. He wanted to test his game at the highest-level and add to a program with a winning culture. We think this will be a great fit for both Nick and Wisconsin."
On Andrew Rohde: "Bringing Andrew back to Wisconsin is a win-win. Great opportunity for him to play close to home and our fans will love cheering for him. He's had a chance to play at different levels, showing off his offensive ability starting at St. Thomas and then earning his defensive degree at Virginia, (a program) we respect so much. Now he gets to put those together at a Wisconsin program that he's been familiar with since he was a little kid. He's a big guard that has played in a lot of big games and we're excited to have him back home for his senior season."
On Austin Rapp: "We're excited to add Austin to the Badger family. He's a big-time shooter at the stretch-4 position and will fit really well with how we play and who we are as a program. He's a highly-skilled big man and he showed that in winning Freshman of the Year in a good conference last season."

Blackwell Returns

John Blackwell, a 6-4 guard, declared for the NBA draft on April 3 but withdrew his name from consideration on May 28. His return is significant, as he had a breakout campaign in the 2024-25 season and is expected to be an all-Big Ten caliber performer.

Read also: Crafting Your NCAA Profile

tags: #aidan #konop #transfer #portal