'He's the dad of the team': John Tonje impresses in Wisconsin debut

Tonje looks like Wisconsin's most important addition from the transfer portal.

Wisconsin guard John Tonje (9) drives past UW-River Falls guard Dylan Parker (12) during the second half of their preseason game Wednesday, October 30, 2024 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin beat UW-River Falls 78-62. / Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Wisconsin had an up-and-down performance in its season-opening 85-61 win over Holy Cross. The most notable performance came from Missouri transfer wing John Tonje, who scored a game-high 23 points in his Badgers debut.

Camren Hunter, who transferred from Central Arkansas, and Xavier Amos, a transfer from Northern Illinois, got more publicity in the offseason, but the addition of Tonje might be Wisconsin's most important. After a four-year career at Colorado State, he transferred to Missouri last season but played only eight games due to a foot injury.

"Last year, obviously redshirting, I kind of took basketball for granted. It was tough to sit out a year. I love basketball, so it was great to come out and have a good start," Tonje said after Monday's win. "Early in the game we had to be more aggressive and figure it out and I am glad with the result."

Tonje averaged 14.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game on 47.3/38.9/81.5 shooting splits for Colorado State in 2022-23. He was a hot commodity in the transfer portal that offseason, but the general public had seemingly forgotten about him after his injury last year.

Now in his sixth year of college, he quickly proved that he can be a big-time player for Wisconsin this season. In 27 minutes of play, he finished with 23 points and five rebounds on 6-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point land and 8-of-8 at the free-throw line.

"He's the dad of the team. He's living here, he's drinking coffee in the morning," Badgers forward Nolan Winter said after the game. "He just brings that veteran presence to the squad, obviously on the court, having him out there, he's been around a time or two."

Max Klesmit, John Blackwell and Tonje all have similar body types and the ability to play the two and three positions, but the second half of Monday's win proved that they can be tough to guard when they're playing together.