John Tonje

So there was a little level of frustration.

But Colorado State, that's where John Tonje started his career there and was pretty well coached, really well coached there.

So it's those things Bo used to talk about all the time.

Just because you may not know much about a team, Doesn't mean they can't play.

Like, those are really good numbers.

They're just done at Miami of Ohio.

Can he do that at the Big Ten level and fit in after the A.J. Storrs, the John Tonje, the Nick Boyd? And can the Badgers go four for four with that transfer that lights everybody? That turns to be an elite

player.

I think Greg Gard is a pretty darn good college basketball coach and we'll find a way to get the most out of that roster.

Do they have a John Tonje? Do they have a John Blackwell? Do they have a Nick Boyd on the roster? Remains to be seen.

But Nolan Winter is really going to be their featured player there in the middle at center.

He can stretch the floor relatively credibly.

examples of guys through the portal who've had their best years as a college player here.

AJ Stewart, John Tonje, Nick Boyd.

Those are obvious.

Well, so is Brayden Carrington.

Wisconsin has totally modernized its offensive scheme.

It's turned guys like A.J. Storer, John Tonje, John Blackwell, Nick Boyd into all-conference performers.

And then they made a bunch of money at their next stop, as Schaefer, you just talked about.

That proof of concept has helped the Badgers pitch in the portal get better and better.

If you go back to several iterations of Badger teams, last year you had Blackwell, you had Boyd.

You know, the year before you had a Tonje, the year before that you had a Storr and a Chucky Hepburn.

The year before that you had a Hepburn.

You have to almost go back to the 2021 team where I don't n- they had a similar level of shot creation, in my opinion.

Their smalls are Shaedon Sharpe, who's gonna be out probably until March.

Then there's John Tonje, Chris Youngbud, and Jason Kent, who are two-way guys, and Tonje's just, like, a small guard.

But they've got a bunch of centers.

Micah Potter, Brandon Carlson, and Young Han Sen.

Sage, the Blazers, by my count, and this could be incorrect, but they have 15 roster spots, and then they have the three two-ways.

The three two-ways, if I'm not mistaken, are Chris Youngblood, John Tonje, and Ja- Jason Kent.

They can take all of these other players, the 15 roster spots, but when they signed Micah Potter, Brandon Carlson, and Jerami Sochan, I was thinking that two of those three players w- would make the roster.

Do you anticipate any player not making the cut? Would you remove one of them and always keep an active spot available? What would you do, and what do you think they're gonna do?

Sissoko.

Even the two-way guys like John Tonje.

He is a player that I'm sure not many Blazers fans know a whole lot about.

The effort, the fact that he was with Boston last year and got the respect from Boston that he did.

You know, two-way guy.

Does he end up like Sidney Sissoko? I mean this in the most respectful way possible to John Tonje.

I hope he doesn't have to.

Because fortunately for Sidney Sissoko, he was able to take advantage of an opportunity because of injuries.