Wisconsin men’s basketball: sophomore forward Ben Carlson enters transfer portal

Another scholarship has opened up for the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball program this offseason. Sophomore forward Ben Carlson is entering the transfer portal as announced by both Verbal Commits and Carlson himself on Twitter Wednesday afternoon.

Although you may not know it, Carlson was the highest rated recruit on this past season’s Badgers squad. 247 Sports ranked the stretch forward as a 4-star recruit and just outside of the Top-100 players in the class of 2020 (No. 107) ahead of players such as Bennedict Mathurin (No. 129), Zed Key (No. 155) and All-American teammate Johnny Davis (No. 164).

In his two years as a Badger, Carlson struggled to find his footing and live up to those expectations, constantly battling injury. He averaged just over nine minutes a game in both seasons, averaging 1.8 points per game as well as 1.8 rebounds per game.

In his debut as a freshman, Carlson scored 13 points vs. Eastern Illinois and seemed destined to be a key contributor for the Badgers moving forward. Unfortunately, Carlson suffered a back injury during his first year on campus, causing him to miss most of his freshman season, and was unable to score more than six points in a game over the course of his career.

Carlson, a Minnesota native, chose Wisconsin over Purdue, Stanford, Xavier, Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado. We wish him luck as he looks for his new home.