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Wisconsin basketball: news and notes from the past week

Johnny Davis continues to look like a top-10 pick, jersey number announcements, and Kamari McGee working on his craft.

Matt Belz

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With the football team in the midst of a huge week on the recruiting front, there was a little less time dedicated to the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team this week. 

While Greg Gard and the Badgers made some recruiting moves of their own this week by offering 2023 small forward Gehrig Normand out of Texas, the bulk of the news surrounding the basketball program took place off the court.

Let's quickly run down the news and notes from the week.

Johnny Davis Pre-draft interview and workout news

Johnny Davis is a projected lottery pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, which will take place on June 23. 

As part of the pre-Draft process, Davis is busy conducting interviews and workouts with multiple teams across the NBA. 

Davis recently had in-person interviews with the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks, and on Thursday, he had his first workout with the Washington Wizards.

According to Davis, lengthy workout with the Wizards was notably intense, but many around the NBA continue to link the two parties in many projections leading up to the draft. Just this week, ESPN's Jonathan Givony had the Wizards selecting Davis with pick No. 10 in his latest mock draft. 

Mutual interest from the Pacers is also notable, considering they hold the No. 6 pick in the draft, while the Knicks have the No. 11 pick if Davis gets by Washington. 

He will undoubtedly have further interviews and workouts in the coming weeks, but Davis continues to trend towards being one of the top picks in the draft. 

Jersey numbers + heights released on roster

This week the basketball team dropped the 2022-2023 roster, and with that came updated jersey numbers and heights for the newest members of the team.

  • First-year guard Connor Essegian will wear No. 3 with the Badgers, and he is notably on the roster as 6-foot-4. Assuming he can carry over his three-point shooting prowess from high school, Essegian could potentially push for playing time as a freshman.
  • UW-Green Bay transfer Kamari McGee came in at 6-feet tall, and he will wear jersey No. 4 next season with the Badgers. We will have more on McGee below.
  • Wofford transfer Max Klesmit will be wearing No. 11 for Wisconsin and is 6-foot-3 in the updated roster. He and McGee should be immediately impactful next season, assuming they can stay healthy.
  • Walk-on Luke Haertle out of Hartland (Wis.) will wear No. 12 and is also 6-foot-3 tall. 

Kamari McGee workout video

Racine (Wis.) native Kamari McGee is one of the newest faces to join the Badgers for the 2022-2023 season. The 6-foot guard is likely to see playing time right away as the backup point guard to Chucky Hepburn, and his abilities on both ends of the court could allow him to play alongside Hepburn at times as well.

This week a new workout video came out featuring the sophomore transfer from UW-Green Bay, and it appears as though he is putting in the work this summer to improve. 

You can get a quick glimpse of McGee's game below...

Brad Davison set to work out for the Timberwolves

Former Wisconsin guard Brad Davison continues to work out with various teams across the NBA in hopes of finding a role in the league.

After conducting workouts with the Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets last month, Davison is now scheduled to participate in a workout for the Minnesota Timberwolves next week, according to Darren Wolfson.

Davison is unlikely to be drafted later this month, but his inclusion in the pre-draft process increases his chances of landing a summer league spot and an opportunity to make an NBA roster as an undrafted player. Aleem Ford and Micah Potter took similar routes following their time with the Badgers and have found success in the NBA G-League. 

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Matt Belz
MATT BELZ

Title: Publisher, Beat Writer for AllBadgers.com, a Sports Illustrated Channel Hello, my name is Matt Belz, and I am the site manager at All Badgers. I previously wrote for multiple years at Buckeyes 5th Quarter and have been the leading publisher here since March of 2022.  When I am not covering the Wisconsin Badgers football and men's basketball teams, I enjoy being outside and spending time with family and friends.  You can follow everything I write about on several different platforms. First and foremost on our site...AllBadgers.com You can follow me personally on Twitter at @savedbythebelz or check out our Facebook page at Wisconsin FanNation on Sports Illustrated.

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