Wisconsin basketball returning player profile: Carter Higginbottom

While the official start date of the 2020-2021 college basketball season is still up for discussion, we here at Bucky’s 5th Quarter are champing at the bit for hoops to start and have decided to get our returning player profile series going again. Over the next two weeks we will profile all of the returning players and then the week after that we will profile all of the incoming freshmen on the team.

The first player up for the defending Big Ten champion Badgers is Carter Higginbottom.

Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports

Player: Carter Higginbottom

Position: point guard

Height: 6-foot-0

Year: redshirt sophomore

Hometown: Chicago, Ill. (St. Ignatius College Prep)

Recruiting info: class of 2018, unranked, walk-on

2019-20 statistics: nine games played, 0-for-1, one rebound, one turnover

Career statistics: nine games played, 0-for-1, one rebound, one turnover

Player overview: Coming out of Chicago, Higginbottom was not a highly recruited player at the Division I level. He had some Division III interest from UW-Oshkosh, University of Chicago and Illinois Wesleyan among others, but chose the preferred walk-on path in Madison. He averaged 12.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 3.2 steals per game as a senior.

Fun fact alert, and probably the reason he looked so closely at, and ended up choosing, Wisconsin: his father, Elzie, was an All-American runner at UW (1960-65), placing fifth in the 40 yard dash at the 1963 NCAA outdoor championships. He was also a three-time Big Ten champion, winning the 440 and anchoring the mile relay to a conference title in 1962.

Higginbottom is “a high IQ point guard that brings great leadership to the table. He is super competitive and has a drive to continue to get better. Crisp passer that makes sound decisions with the basketball in his hands,” according to Scott Burgess of PrepHoops.

Role on 2020-21 team: The Wisconsin Badgers are a senior-laden team this year, with all five starters being in their final season of eligibility, so there isn’t a whole lot of playing time available for the younger members of the team. Depending on how the freshmen redshirt situation plays out, Higginbottom will be the third or fourth point guard on the depth chart behind D’Mitrik Trice, Trevor Anderson and freshman Lorne Bowman.

Higginbottom has been in the program for three years now and knows the system, which gives him a leg up on someone like Bowman, but we don’t foresee him getting major minutes this season.