Wisconsin basketball recruiting: Wofford SG Max Klesmit is transferring to UW [UPDATE: it’s official]

With a few more spots to fill out on their roster for next season, Greg Gard and the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team received some good news on Saturday afternoon. Wofford shooting guard Max Klesmit (Neenah) announced on his Twitter account that he is “home” and will be transferring to UW.

Klesmit took a visit to Wisconsin last weekend and, despite leaving Wisconsin off of his tweet with a “final four” schools that included Clemson, Colorado State, South Carolina and Vanderbilt, must have liked what he saw and heard because now he’s a Badger.

“I want to thank the Wisconsin coaching staff for giving me this opportunity,” Klesmit said in an official release from UW. “I’m super excited and grateful to be a part of this program! I can’t wait to get back to Wisconsin and get to work.”

Standing at 6-foot-3 and weighing 190 pounds, the former Neenah High School standout was named to Southern Conference All-Freshman Team by the media two years ago and was picked as a third team All-SoCon performer last year by the coaches and the media. While at Neenah, he was named all-state his last three years in school. Klesmit has two years of eligibility remaining (three if he takes his COVID year) and will slot right into Wisconsin’s rotation, and potentially starting lineup, next year.

Last year Klesmit averaged 14.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 44.6 percent from the field. He hit 33.5% (63-of-188) of his three pointers last year and was one of the best free throw shooters in the nation, making 84% from the charity stripe.

“We’re happy to be able to add someone like Max, both as a player and person to represent our program,” Gard said. “A native of the state, we know that Max is excited to be able to return home and will take pride in wearing the Wisconsin jersey. With two seasons of college basketball under his belt, Max also adds experience and a specific skillset to our roster. We’re looking forward to Max joining our Badger Family and we can’t wait to get to work with him and help him chase his goals here at Wisconsin.”

Klesmit joins former Green Bay point guard Kamari McGee (Racine) as transfers in to the Badgers program this offseason. We’ll have more on Klesmit’s fit with the Badgers in the coming days.