After praying to God over 'girl issues,' opportunity arrived for Badgers' Daniel Freitag

Freitag looks to be Wisconsin's long-term answer at point guard.

Wisconsin men's basketball player Daniel Freitag (5) and Marcus Ilver defend Xavier Amos (13) during practice at Nicholas Johnson Pavillion in Madison, Wisconsin on Thursday Sept. 26, 2024 / © Mark Stewart / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Wisconsin's short-term future at the point guard position went up in flames when longtime starter Chucky Hepburn entered the transfer portal and bolted for Louisville in the offseason, but incoming four-star freshman Daniel Freitag saw it as an opportunity.

"The night before (Hepburn entered the portal), I was having a terrible night. I prayed to God, 'Give me a sign of some sort that things are going to turn around.' I was having girl issues, things of that nature, I was like, just show me that it turns around," Freitag told reporters this week. "Woke up the next morning and I checked Twitter, and it was that Chucky Hepburn left. That could be a bad thing, but that opened up huge doors for me."

Doors open when you break up with your toxic girlfriend 💯 https://t.co/5iiNRQtGbA

— Daniel Freitag (@DanielFreitag_) October 7, 2024

Freitag, who held offers from his home state Minnesota Gophers along with Notre Dame, Baylor and Virginia, averaged 26 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and 2.5 steals per game in his senior season of prep basketball at Breck High School. Also a high school football star, Freitag brings incredible athleticism across the border to the Badgers.

Hepburn started 103 games in his Wisconsin career, averaging 9.8 points and three assists per game. The Badgers added Central Arkansas transfer Camren Hunter from the portal in the offseason, but they will need multiple players to replace the leadership that Hepburn left behind.

"Immediately after seeing that, while talking to my mom, I got a phone call from Greg Gard," Freitag recalled. "It was just like, 'be ready. 'Hearing him have confidence in me kind of gave me the confidence I needed."

Hunter might start at the lead guard position for Wisconsin when the season opens next month, but Freitag has the ceiling that they will need if they want to out-perform their 12th-place projection in the preseason Big Ten media poll.