I'm not going to sit here and tell you Nolan Winter should be one of the top 10 players in college basketball. I don't even know that I'd put him in the top 25 right now. But I have a hard time getting all the way down to No. 87, especially after the season he just had for Wisconsin.
That's where On3 ranked the Wisconsin big man in its top 100 players for the 2026-27 season. Lists like this are always going to be subjective, and you could probably ask five different people where Winter belongs and get five different answers. Still, 86 players better than him seems like a lot when you start looking at what he did last season.
Winter averaged 13.1 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 56.9% from the floor. He had 12 double-doubles, finished fourth in the Big Ten in rebounding and shot nearly 70% from inside the 3-point line. He's not going to get the same national attention as some of the bigger scorers in college basketball, but that's a pretty productive season in the Big Ten.
He's gotten better every year, too. Winter averaged just 2.4 points and 1.8 rebounds as a freshman before jumping to 9.5 points and 5.8 rebounds as a sophomore. Last season, those numbers climbed again to 13.1 and 8.5.
Mar 19, 2026; Portland, OR, USA; Wisconsin Badgers forward Nolan Winter (31) shoots against High Point Panthers forward Braden Hausen (15) during the first half of a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
I'm not the only one who thinks 87 might be a little low. CBS Sports ranked Winter No. 41 on its list of the top players in college basketball, while Field of 68 had him No. 49 among returning players earlier this offseason.
I'm not saying CBS automatically has it right because its ranking fits my argument better. We're talking about projecting players before the season starts, and there's going to be plenty of disagreement. But a 46-spot difference between two national rankings is enough to make you wonder how Winter can be viewed so differently.
The Big Ten seems to be expecting a pretty big year from him, too. Winter was named to the preseason All-Big Ten team , and I think that's probably closer to how I view him entering the season. He's already proven he can be one of the better big men in the conference. Now he has to show he can become one of its best players.
Greg Gard certainly believes there's another level there. "The final hurdle here is mentally becoming a dominant player, which I know is in him," Gard said during the preseason. "I've seen it. ... Now we gotta get the world to see it."
We've seen some of what Gard is talking about. Winter can score around the basket, rebound and step outside, but there have also been stretches where he hasn't been as involved as you'd expect from someone with his size and ability. With the way Wisconsin's roster has changed, I don't think the Badgers can afford for that to happen as often this season.
John Blackwell and Nick Boyd are gone, so more is going to fall on Winter. There are going to be nights when 13 points and eight rebounds aren't enough. Wisconsin will need him to demand the ball, take over for stretches and become the kind of player Gard believes he can be.
The outside shot is part of it, too. Winter made 31 3-pointers last season but shot 32.6% from behind the line. He told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that's an area he knows has to improve if he wants to eventually play in the NBA.
"Shooting the three more consistently is something that needs to be better if I want to be in the NBA at a high level," Winter said. "I need to shoot that better, and I know that."
So I'm not arguing Winter doesn't have anything left to prove. He does. He needs to shoot it better, become more assertive and show he can handle a bigger role now that Wisconsin has lost two of its biggest offensive weapons. That's enough for me to understand why someone wouldn't put him among the top 20 or 25 players in the country entering the season.
I just think No. 87 is selling him short.
Winter has improved every season he's been at Wisconsin, he's coming off a year in which he nearly averaged a double-double and he's entering this one as a preseason All-Big Ten selection. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd be surprised if we're still talking about Winter as the 87th-best player in college basketball by the time March gets here.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/wisconsin as Nolan Winter Lands at No. 87 in National Ranking - That Feels a Little Low .
