Is Camren Hunter Wisconsin's overlooked answer at point guard?
After longtime Badgers point guard Chucky Hepburn dipped into the transfer portal and left for Lousiville, Wisconsin was forced to find his replacement. Central Arkansas transfer Camren Hunter comes to the program after sitting out all of last season due to injury, but is he the answer at the position?
"We're excited to have Cam join our program. His skill set is a great addition to our team, but what also stood out to us is his character and work ethic," head coach Greg Gard said. "Cam joins us from Central Arkansas, where he worked his way up and showed off his talent. He had two straight all-conference seasons before injury sidelined him this past year. When watching Cam's game, we feel that he has a Big Ten body at the guard position that will translate here. We look forward to working with Cam to help him grow and continue to elevate his game here at Wisconsin."
Hunter broke onto the scene at Central Arkansas, earning Atlantic Sun Freshman of The Year honors in 2022. He had a tremendous junior season averaging 16.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.9 rebounds per game in 2022-23 on 42.3/31.1/78.6 shooting splits. He was a two-time All-Atlantic Sun Conference performer.
He originally entered the transfer portal last offseason and committed to Butler before changing his mind and returning to the Bears. Unfortunately, he suffered a season-ending foot injury and missed the entire 2023-24 campaign.
The Bryant, Arkansas native now comes to Madison as a bit of an unknown. He was once one of the most intriguing mid-major players in the country, but now most fans of the sport seem to have forgotten the level of talent he has. Take On3 Sports for example, as the recruiting service ranked him as the 62nd-best transfer portal point guard in the country and the No. 312 transfer player overall.
Wisconsin will also have talented freshman Daniel Freitag coming to the program in 2024. Listed at 6-foot-3, he averaged 26 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 2.5 steals per game as a senior while leading Breck High School to a Class 2A Minnesota state championship.
Hunter will have two years of eligibility remaining with Wisconsin, so it will give the team a chance to develop Freitag at his own pace. Losing Hepburn to the portal is not something the Badgers wanted to do this offseason, but by this time next year, it could look like they made an upgrade at the point guard position.
TONY LIEBERT