This story first ran on Badger Stripes.
The Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team seems to have found a good one in transfer sophomore AJ Storr after he averaged 15 points and 5 rebounds for the Bahamian national team in two exhibition matches against Kansas … and former Michigan forward Hunter Dickinson.
Storr shot 5-12 from the field in the first game – including a 0-6 night from deep – but still put up 19 points behind a 9-10 night from the free throw line after drawing six fouls.
The incoming guard also corralled 8 rebounds and threw down this nasty dunk off an assist from NBA starter and fellow Bahamanian Buddy Hield.
In game two, Storr played fewer minutes as Phoenix Suns star Eric Gordon joined his national team, but still put up 11 points on 5-11 shooting, with two rebounds and a three.
Storr’s stat lines from two exhibitions with the Bahamas National Team against Kansas
| Minutes | FGs | 3PT | FT | Points | Rebounds | Fouls | Fouls Drawn | TOs | plus/minus | Team result | |
| Game 1 | 29 | 5-12 | 0-6 | 9-10 | 19 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 3 | -9 | Loss |
| Game 2 | 22 | 5-11 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +1 | Win |
It wasn’t all good news though. In the first game, Storr had 3 turnovers and a plus/minus of -9, worst on the team. He also didn’t pick up an assist in either game (though the Bahamian national team consists mostly of college players not quite on Kansas’s level, plus Hield and Gordon.)
Storr’s three-point stroke seemed to elude him in both games, putting up a combined 1-10 performance from deep. That’s a far cry from his 40% touch last year at St. Johns.
That being said, the entire Bahamas team struggled from deep against Kansas, as long as your name wasn’t Hield. Minus him, the Bahamas shot just 21% from 3.
When Storr plays for the Badgers this fall, he shouldn’t have to press from deep as much with 3-point bombers Conner Essegian, Max Klesmit and Chucky Hepburn in the fold. With the extra space around him, you’d expect his three-point touch to return.
Plus, the Badgers seem interested in Storr’s athleticism more than anything else.
“We’re happy to have AJ join us,” head coach Greg Gard said in April when Storr transferred. “He’s a long, athletic player who can score in a variety of ways, and we’re excited about what he adds to our team.”
In other Badger news …
The Big Ten is about to be the Big 18 after agreeing to terms with Washington and Oregon to join the conference in 2024, reuniting with USC and UCLA as the Pac-12 continues to collapse.
It is still unsure how the Big Ten, a traditionally Midwest conference, will bring the four West Coast schools into the fold. But personally, I’m excited to see players used to 70 degrees and sunny have to wake up at 6 a.m. PST to play in a snowy Camp Randall.
The expansion also means Wisconsin is still the only school in the massive conference without a baseball team. However with more money now expected to be used for non-rev sports to travel, I wouldn’t hold my breath on the real UW getting a team any time soon.
Badger Stripes is an online sports news organization that provides in-depth coverage of UW athletics.
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