Why Wisconsin's Wings Work

Madison, Wisconsin, has seen a basketball renaissance over the last half-decade.

The team, once known for its unhurried offense and stifling defense, has transformed with the times.

Now, for people who have watched them, they're better known for their modern offensive system that has created superstar guards and wings seemingly out of thin air.

So how has this offense created a new identity in the modern age of college basketball?

It starts with their continuity pick-and-roll offensive system, and we can prove it with some numbers.

For this exercise, I'll be looking at the following players and corresponding seasons:

Nick Boyd: 2026 - Wisconsin, 2025 - SDSU
John Tonje: 2025 - Wisconsin, 2023 - Colorado State (he was injured for 2024)
AJ Storr: 2024 - Wisconsin, 2023 - St. John's
John Blackwell: 2025 - Wisconsin, 2024 - Wisconsin
Johnny Davis: 2022 - Wisconsin, 2021 - Wisconsin

What all of these players have in common is that they had a breakout year at Wisconsin. For the stats that follow, I've also included John Blackwell's 2026 stats, but for this exercise, I'll focus on his breakout season, which I'd consider 2025.

The data shown below is from Synergy.

The main point of emphasis in the chart above is the increase in points per game. All five players increased their points per game by at least 5 in their season with Wisconsin, and four increased it by at least 7.

We'll get to the film in a bit on why the offensive system has churned out elite scorers, but I wanted to see if any numbers could help explain why, beyond simply increasing volume. I started with shots taken from three and at the rim, but nothing really correlated.

Wisconsin Wings Total Shots Per Game by Shooting Split

Next I looked at the generalized splits from 2s, 3s, and the free throw line. An increase in volume, of course, plays a large part in all of this. These stats didn't give me the exact answers I wanted, but one thing to note is the increase in volume from both 2s and the free throw line.

Wisconsin Wings Shot Types Per Game and Points Per Possession

Note: SU = Spot Ups, PnR = Pick-and-Rolls, Poss = # of possessions per game, PPP = Points Per Possession

Then I looked into how the shots were being created, and as I suspected for an offense so reliant on them, pick-and-rolls seemed important.

For an offense that now relies so heavily on pick-and-rolls, it makes sense that each of these players saw an increase in pick-and-rolls run per game. However, it's important to note that all five players increased their efficiency in pick-and-rolls while ALSO increasing their volume.

It was the only category in which all five players increased their efficiency during their breakout year at Wisconsin.

With data showing that Wisconsin's pick-and-roll system played an important part in the breakouts, the question became how impactful it was and how it actually helped.

The data above shows how much each player increased their points per game in their breakout year at Wisconsin for each category. The far-right column shows what percentage of their total points per game increase can be attributed specifically to pick-and-rolls.

Again, pick-and-rolls were the only category that consistently impacted all five players. Nick Boyd was the only player who didn't have at least 30% of his point increase come from pick-and-rolls, as he sat just below 20%.

With two different sets of data showing that pick-and-rolls had a major impact, I next wanted to look at each player's changes in pick-and-rolls only at Wisconsin.

The table above shows some of the raw numbers each player had ONLY out of pick-and-rolls. Below will be a more summarized table.

Pick-and-Roll Points Per Game increase by shot value type

This table above shows the change in points per game in pick-and-rolls only, broken down by how many of those points can be attributed to twos, threes, and free throws. The right part of the table is calculated by dividing the change in points per game for each shooting category by the total amount of points increase across ALL categories.

For example, John Tonje averaged 3.91 more points per game out of pick-and-rolls in his year at Wisconsin than in his year at Colorado State. These points can be attributed to him scoring 0.8 more points per game via two-pointers out of pick-and-rolls, 1.5 more points per game via threes out of pick-and-rolls, and 1.61 more points per game via free throws out of pick-and-rolls.

Both Tonje and Davis got a big bump in free throws via pick-and-rolls; everyone but Boyd saw a jump in three-pointers via pick-and-rolls; and all five players saw a good increase in points per game coming from two-pointers out of pick-and-rolls.

In fewer words, Wisconsin's pick-and-roll system has allowed these wings and guards to take a big jump in production from inside the arc via pick-and-rolls.

This led me to try to figure out exactly the types of shots out of pick-and-rolls that these players were excelling in.

Pick-and-Roll shots by category per game (PU 3 = pull up 3, Mid = mid-range)

Across all four pick-and-roll shot categories, all five players saw a big increase in shots per game at the rim. John Tonje only increased his shots per game at the rim out of pick-and-roll by 0.6, but it's important to remember just how much he got to the free throw line, which decreases the number of counted attempts at the rim.

So to summarize:

Wisconsin's perimeter players have seen a big jump in points per game in their breakout year at Wisconsin, compared to the previous season
The single largest category that causes this increase in points per game is production out of pick-and-rolls, both because of volume and an increase in efficiency
In pick-and-rolls, all of these players had a point per game increase in two-pointers, four had an increase in three-pointers, and three had an increase via free throws
In pick-and-rolls, there was a general increase in volume of shots at the rim

Now that we have the data, there are two questions:

Is the system itself foolproof so that anyone can be placed in it and succeed?
Who projects to be up next for the Badgers in this role?

To answer number one, you, the reader, and I probably wouldn't be able to succeed in the system unless you're a D1-type athlete with some ability to create downhill out of pick-and-rolls.

In all seriousness, I think Wisconsin has identified players with the skills to be downhill creators and positive shooters, but maybe they just weren't given the opportunity.

Wisconsin saw Nick Boyd graduate and John Blackwell transfer this offseason, leaving nearly 40 points per game of production that the Badgers would need to replace just from those two spots.

Wisconsin added Australian guard Owen Foxwell, George Washington transfer Trey Autry, and Miami OH transfer Eian Elmer, while retaining Jack Janicki, Hayden Jones, and Zach Kinziger in the backcourt. They also added three freshmen: LaTrevion Fenderson, Jackson Ball, and Josh Manchester.

So who could be the ones to pop? Hayden Jones is an interesting player at 6'6 with the ability to operate out of pick-and-rolls and get downhill, although the shooting numbers are concerning. Zach Kinziger is projected to be a very good shooter in college, and a sophomore breakout is possible, but his ability to drive will be something to monitor. Trey Autry has been primarily a spot-up shooter in college, but he could find success in pick-and-rolls if given the opportunity.

But we'll primarily be focusing on the Aussie, Owen Foxwell.

Foxwell averaged 11.1 points, 4.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game for the South East Melbourne Phoenix in Australia's NBL. He shot 45% from two, 35% from three, and 80% from the free throw line. For reference, the NBL is generally ranked as around the 10th-12th best league in the world, and a step above the NCAA.

Foxwell turned 23 in August, and he has one year of eligibility left.

In Australia, Foxwell was a primary ball handler who mainly operated out of pick-and-rolls. Below are his pick-and-roll shot attempts over the last three seasons.

If the 2026 numbers seem somewhat familiar, it's because they're relatively close to Nick Boyd's numbers during his 2025 season at San Diego State.

This isn't to say that Foxwell and Boyd are the exact same players, because they aren't. Boyd is more of a physical driver while Foxwell prefers change of pace and direction to get into the paint. At the same time, though, if Wisconsin's goal was to replicate Boyd with a similar player, they did pretty well on paper with Foxwell.