MADISON - Nick Boyd, Andrew Rohde and Braeden Carrington will be in much different environments than Wisconsin's three scholarship seniors were at this time last year as they take part in the Badgers' pregame Senior Night ceremony.
Boyd was at San Diego State. Rohde was on the other side of the country at Virginia. Carrington was right in the middle at Tulsa.
Their convergence in Madison via the transfer portal has been a central part of how Wisconsin has - albeit after some highs and lows - remained in the upper third of the Big Ten in 2025-26. (The Badgers are tied for fifth in the 18-team conference, as of March 2.)
The three scholarship seniors have combined to account for 41.2% of the team's scoring, 47.9% of the team's assists and 36% of the team's minutes ahead of the Badgers' March 4 home finale against Maryland.
"The main thing is that they've all continued to work and take coaching and listen and kept winning at the forefront," Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said of the three scholarship seniors. "And that's, I think, the lesson you can take from just the one year is that they came here for the right reasons. And they've had success, and they've all gotten better."
That success and improvement have looked different for each scholarship senior.
After four seasons at Florida Atlantic and one at San Diego, Boyd has emerged as one of the most prolific scorers in the Big Ten in his lone season with the Badgers. The 6-foot-3 point guard's 20.3 points per game ranks fourth in the conference. He has scored at least 10 points in every game, and he has scored 20-plus points in 18 of UW's 29 games.
"Obviously, Nick has had a phenomenal year," Gard said. "I think he's continued to get better in a lot of ways."
After two years at Minnesota and one year at Tulsa, Carrington has been an offensive catalyst with his hot 3-point shooting while also serving a valuable defensive role. The 6-foot-5 guard is coming off a career-high 32 points against Washington.
Rohde's patented 3-point shooting has not always been clicking, but the Brookfield native's defense has been a clear difference-maker for the Badgers. (Holding Washington's Wesley Yates III to 1-of-17 shooting was just one example.) He arrived at UW after one year at St. Thomas and two years at Virginia.
"Braeden, we recruited with the idea he was going to be a defender, and he's turned into an offensive juggernaut," Gard said. "Rohde was the opposite. We recruited him more for his offense, and he's turned into one of our better defensive players."
While Austin Rapp is not a senior, UW also found success with the sophomore forward after he transferred from Portland. He has scored 14 or more points in three of his last six games while showing growth in many other areas over the course of the 2025-26 season.
The one transfer who did not pan out was ex-Temple forward Elijah Gray, who was dismissed from the team ahead of the season amid allegations of involvement in a point-shaving scheme.
Wisconsin's track record on finding players who embrace and thrive in their single seasons in Madison is no accident. Wisconsin's coaches, Gard said, "really vet it pretty seriously from a lot of different angles."
"The main ingredient is you have to be a really good person, and you check your ego at the door," Gard said. "You come in and be unselfish. And they've all done that in different ways."
The concept of a transfer thriving in one season with Gard’s staff is nothing new. In 2024-25, it was All-American guard John Tonje. The continuation of that trend in 2025-26 with Boyd, Rohde and Carrington certainly does not hurt with potentially three open roster spots for 2026-27.
"We've become a very, very attractive place for transfers," Gard said. "Obviously the last three, four years we've had dynamite players. So it's not coincidental."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How Wisconsin's scholarship seniors have made impact in short time