The 2024-25 season for the Wisconsin men’s basketball program will be remembered for several incredible performances. And most of them involved John Tonje.
Tonje spent just one year in a Badger uniform, but he made the most of each and every game he played. A sixth-year transfer, Tonje scored 724 points, which places him second on the school’s single-season scoring list.
He also put together a record 37 points in the tough loss to BYU in the NCAA Tournament, which brought a close to Tonje’s career as a college athlete. He is now preparing for the NBA and NBA Draft, and likely will make a team very happy upon his arrival.
The 6-foot-5 Tonje shined in Nebraska as a prep, finishing as the state’s leading scorer his senior season. He used that to secure a spot at Colorado State, playing four seasons where he averaged just under 15 as a senior.
From Nebraska to Missouri to Wisconsin for John Tonje
From there, Tonje took a medical redshirt at Missouri in 2023-24 after spending the summer helping the Cameroon National Team go 4-0 in the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament. He returned to the court as a Badger, putting his name on the map with a 41-point performance vs. Arizona.
Tonje won National Player of the Week honors three times, was the Greenbrier Tip-Off Tournament MVP, a first team all-Big Ten selection and second team All-American.
Not bad from a kid who had zero stars and held offers from Colorado State, hometown school Nebraska Omaha and Missouri Western coming out of high school.
Most now have Tonje as a Top 100 player on their big board for the NBA Draft. That would mean the end of the second round, but he could also be an undrafted free agent and have more control over where he goes.
Since 2011, Wisconsin has had just four players selected in the NBA Draft in Jon Leuer, Sam Dekker, Frank Kaminsky and Johnny Davis.
This article first appeared on Wisconsin Badgers on SI and was syndicated with permission.
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SEC Coach Denies Maryland Interest; Buzz Williams Top Candidate?
The Texas A M Aggies’ Buzz Williams was not the only SEC head coach who has been rumored to potentially be interested in the now-vacant Maryland Terrapins job. In the immediate aftermath of now former Terrapins’ coach Kevin Willard taking the same job at Villanova, Alabama coach Nate Oats joined Williams as the two high-profile current head men rumored to have an interest. However, now it seems Williams now has that category of rumored interest to himself.
According to a report the Field of 68 insider Jeff Goodman, the current Crimson Tide head coach has taken himself out of the running for the Maryland job. “Alabama head coach Nate Oats has no interest in the vacant Maryland job, source told Field of 68,” Goodman writes. Goodman went even further to say that there was “no truth” to the rumors that Oats had interest in leaving Tuscaloosa for Maryland.
Which obviously doesn’t do much for Aggie fans hoping to hear the same in regards to Williams. But the longer there is no official word on Williams’ desire to stay in College Station, it seems that no news may indeed be pending bad news for Texas A M. With Oats out of the running after taking the Crimson Tide to the Elite Eight, where they lost to Duke, Williams looks to be the highest profile candidate for the job.
Just days before Goodman broke the news on Oats’s future. He reported that the buzz surrounding Williams (pun intended) was indeed true. “Texas A M’s Buzz Williams trying to get involved in Maryland if/when it opens, source told Field of 68,” Goodman wrote on X Thursday. The 52-year-old just completed his sixth season in College Station, where for the third year in a row, he helped the Aggies earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
He’s compiled a 120-73 record in College Station and is fresh off a 23-11 season that saw him take the Aggies to the Round of 32, the farthest they’ve made it with him at the helm. And even while his time with the Aggies is viewed as a success, it does make sense why he would be interested in taking the Maryland. For one, they are coming off their best in a decade, as Willard took them to the Sweet 16. Secondly, historically, the Terrapins is a better job than Texas A M. Until a hire is officially made by Maryland, the Aggies may have to sweat out the coming days as they await to find out the future of their head coach.
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Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson plans to demote a few veterans in 2025
Former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus did all he could to try and instill a strong leadership core in the locker room for his third season with the team.
Before drafting Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick, Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles hired offensive coordinator Shane Waldon and defensive coordinator Eric Washington to provide leadership from the coaching staff. The Chicago Bears’ “apex leadership group” is shrinking Eberflus made a unique choice to give the Bears eight team captains in 2024, calling them the “apex leadership group.”
They were to serve as communicators from the locker room to Eberflus and his staff. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson, wide receiver DJ Moore, quarterback Caleb Williams, safety Kevin Byard III, linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards, and tight ends Marcedes Lewis and Cole Kmet were named captains before the season. “It’s their locker room,” Eberflus said via the Bears website. “I told them it’s their team.
We’re gonna give you the keys. We’re gonna prepare you how to drive and all those things, and we’re gonna be there to help you. But it’s their team. They gotta drive it.” Ben Johnson wants fewer team captains Johnson will have a different approach for the upcoming season. Per Courtney Cronin of ESPN, Johnson said during the annual league meeting on Tuesday that the Bears would have fewer team captains (3-5) in 2025.
“Johnson said the Bears will “probably” have between 3-5 season-long captains that the players will vote on. That’s less than the 8 Chicago had during the 2024 season,” Cronin posted on X. Of the Bears’ eight team captains from 2024, only Lewis is not on the roster. He is a free agent who recently suggested that he wanted to end his career with Chicago.
Johnson’s plan means a few team captains from 2024 will be demoted from their official leadership positions. Eight was always too many team captains. This season, Johnson wants his staff to install their culture before letting the veterans take over. After 15 wins in three seasons, the veteran core of the Bears wasn’t getting the job done, regardless of what the coaching staff was or wasn’t doing.
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Raiders Drop Update on Possible Hunter Renfrow Signing
It’s no secret that the Las Vegas Raiders have a need at wide receiver, but with options limited in free agency, the team recently brought in Hunter Renfrow for a visit. The former fifth-round pick of the team was out of the NFL last season but is looking to make a comeback in 2025. He’s a former Pro Bowl and still just 29 so he could return to form in the right situation.
While there are few coaches and front office members left from Renfrow’s tenure with the team, the Raiders are at least a little interested in reuniting with the wide receiver. General manager John Spytek was asked about the visit and he gave some insight as to why they wanted to meet with Renfrow. “We were just visiting and checking in on him,” Spytek told reporters at the annual league meeting in Florida.
“I’ll just say he’s in a really good spot now where he wants to continue his career. We would be remiss if we didn’t think about it.” It sounds like the Raiders may still be evaluating their options. Renfrow also previously met with the Carolina Panthers so they could be lurking. The Raiders may wait to see how the 2025 NFL Draft plays out before making any kind of offer to Renfrow.
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NBA
Dominant Thunder break NBA record, eye more NBA history
On Tuesday, the Thunder (63-12) improved to 28-1 against Eastern Conference teams with a 145-117 win over the Bulls. In the process, Mark Daigneault officially clinched the best inter-conference record in NBA history, surpassing the previous benchmark set by the 1999-00 Lakers, 2006-07 Mavericks and 2015-16 Warriors, all of which finished with a 27-3 record against the East.
In its final away game in Detroit on Wednesday, OKC can improve to 29-1 against the East, adding to its NBA record. Technically, the Thunder lost another game to the Bucks this season, but its NBA Cup finals loss does not count as part of the regular season. OKC is also on pace to finish with the largest point differential (and net rating) in NBA history.
As of Tuesday, they’ve outscored opponents by an average of 13.36 points, which is more than a point clear of the ’71-’72 Lakers (12.28) and ’70-’71 Bucks (12.26). Even the 73-9 Warriors beat opponents by an average of 11.63 points. Thunder can also become only the third 70-win team in NBA history if they can go 7-0 in their final 10 games. Unless they rest all their starters, the milestone is within reach.
Scratch that, they’ve been drubbing teams even without key starters in recent weeks, going 19-2 since the All-Star break. Nothing is beyond reach for this spirited bunch. It’s going to take a bit for everyone to process what this OKC team, the youngest 60-win team ever, has achieved this season. But Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Co. continue to be disrespected, and understandably so. This team won’t get its fair share of credit unless the regular-season dominance translates to the playoffs.
At least the oddsmakers don’t consider OKC a regular-season wonder. After trailing the Celtics all season, the Thunder are now officially the odds-on favorites to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June. The shift in odds is monumental since the C’s have been favored to win it all since Oct. 2023, which predates their title victory in 2024.
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