Badgers land 2025 four-star G Zach Kinziger, 1st recruit in class

The Wisconsin Badgers have landed their first 2025 recruit, as shooting guard Zach Kinziger announced his commitment to the program Friday.

Kinziger, a 6’3 guard from DePere High School, had told On3’s Joe Tipton that Wisconsin was his dream school, which made the decision easy, hence the early commitment.

“Wisconsin has been my dream school ever since I was a little kid,” he said to On3. “Playing at the highest level in my home state in front of 17,000 is hard to beat. I love the coaching staff, the culture, and their tradition of winning. I feel like it is a perfect fit for me and it checks off all the boxes for me when choosing a school.”

Kinziger profiles as a shooting guard, perhaps a bit undersized, given his score-first mentality, where he’s thrived with the outside game, but also gotten better as a slasher.

“I would describe my game as a score-first combo guard but can also dish it out as well,” he shared to On3. “I am more of an outside player and seen as a shooter but I think I surprise people with my athleticism and ability to get to the rim. I also pride myself on my defense and my ability to do the little things such as rebounding and being scrappy.”

Kinziger is seen as a four-star guard on ESPN rankings, while On3 has the 6’3 shooter as a three-star, and had received interest from Iowa, Cal Poly, and Wisconsin Green-Bay, with the latter two offering him a scholarship alongside Wisconsin.

With Kinziger in the mix, the Badgers have gotten a head start on their 2025 class, although the current recruiting focus is on five-star in-state forward Kon Knueppel, who has received significant interest from blue bloods, while Wisconsin tries to keep him on the home front.

The Badgers’ newest recruit may be able to help with that, as Kinziger shared to Rivals’s Jon McNamara that he’ll look to get the Wisconsin Lutheran forward along with him for the ride.