Ex Wisconsin Badgers PG star Chucky Hepburn announced his recent destination on Thursday.
Wisconsin lost seven players to the transfer portal. Two starters, Hepburn and AJ Storr, went to Kansas. Others include Connor Essegian (Nebraska), Luke Haertle, Ross Candelino, Gus Yalden and Isaac Lindsey (South Dakota State).
Former Wisconsin Badgers star PG Chucky Hepburn announced his transfer to the ACC school.
Chucky Hepburn announced on Thursday that he did transfer to Louisville.
Because Hepburn announced his intention to enter the transfer portal on April 18 transfer holderThe 247Sports crystal ball predictions predicted Hepburn would become a Louisville Cardinal.
During his career at Wisconsin, Hepburn played 103 games and averaged 9.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists.
Why did Hepburn move to Louisville?
Since NIL arrived in 2021, players have been using the transfer portal to move from one huge payout to another.
That’s what happened here. Chucky Hepburn left Wisconsin because the NIL collective in Louisville was deeper than the collective in Wisconsin. Even though Greg Gard said in recent weeks, “Wisconsin has tripled its NIL collective,” the program has some difficulties because it doesn’t have resources on par with SEC or ACC schools.
The other secondary reason could be that Wisconsin’s offensive players are making it tough to reach their full potential.
Wisconsin played effective offense for most of the year. The first round loss to James Madison proved the problems plaguing this team and showed that Maryland, Ohio State and Northwestern are easier to beat, but against tougher competition your offense has to prove it.
Losing Wisconsin’s best player to a bottom-ranked ACC player doesn’t bode well for this program. I don’t question Greg Gard’s coaching acumen as he has accomplished a lot at UW, but the direction this program is heading needs to be examined.
A future for Wisconsin without Chucky Hepburn?
Wisconsin has 3-star PG Daniel Freitag at its disposal and will see significant action during the 2024-2025 season.
Jack Robison of Lakeville, Minnesota will likely see significant events next year due to Tyler Wahl’s graduation.
Without Hepburn and Storr, Wisconsin will have a potential starting five of Kamari McGee, Max Klesmitt, Steven Crowl, Carter Gilmore and John Blackwell.
It’s not a bad lineup, but do they have enough points to offset a defense that took a step back last season?
Another option could be to add a quarterback to Wisconsin’s team from the transfer portal. Michigan State’s AJ Hoggard entered the portal on Friday. Minnesota’s Elijah Hawkins, Saint Mary’s’ Aidan Mahaney or Northern Iowa’s Bowen Born could be options for Wisconsin.
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