“If you watch the trends in college basketball right now, big is back, so to speak,” Gard said at the Badgers’ Oct. 6 local media day.
Gard had less of that size to work with in the Badgers’ 82-65 exhibition win over Oklahoma State, as 7-foot forward Will Garlock was sidelined with an injury.
Garlock suffered the injury in practice and is considered day-to-day, according to UW sports information. He was not in uniform and did not participate in pregame warmups at the Kohl Center.
Gard gave a few more details about the Middleton native’s recovery in his postgame news conference.
“He’s going to go through some more testing tomorrow and be evaluated more,” Gard said. “At this point in time in the season, we’re not going to put anybody in a risk. We’ll figure out what’s exactly going on and then go from there.”
Gard described Garlock at the Big Ten’s annual basketball media day as “maybe our most improved player.” He has frequently stood out in practices that were open to the media in the summer and again in the preseason. That follows a freshman season averaging 1.1 points and 1.1 rebounds in 6.8 minutes per game.
Wisconsin has started Nolan Winter and Victory Onuetu in the frontcourt in all three exhibitions. Rapp and Garlock played significant roles off the bench when they were healthy enough to play. Rapp missed most of the offseason with a knee injury and did not play against UW-Parkside.
The Badgers can afford to take their time with any early-season injuries. They start the season Nov. 2 against Denver, but their first high-major opponent is not until Nov. 19. That’s when they play Seton Hall, which was picked to finish ninth in the 11-team Big East’s preseason poll.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin basketball not taking unneeded risk with Will Garlock injury