Nolan Winter has ‘all the makings’ of a Badgers basketball star
MINNEAPOLIS (BVM) – Nolan Winter is the latest Lakeville North basketball star.
After JP Macura (Xavier), Nate Reuvers and Tyler Wahl (both played at Wisconsin) each went on to have productive Division I college basketball careers after leaving the Panthers program in recent years, Winter is hoping to recreate their success at the next level in his own way.
“We’ve had quite a few Division I kids in this last 10 or 11 years so we’ve been kind of spoiled with that,” said Lakeville North head coach John Oxton, who’s coached the Panthers since 1990. “Nolan is a different player than them, I would say, probably a little more offensive-oriented and skilled that way.
“In high school, there are lanky dudes who you can just tell, it’s like, if they put on about 30-40 pounds of muscle, they’re going to be absolutely great, great players. Nolan is kind of on that same path.”
Added muscle would be one of the final few components to Winter’s game that appears to be nearly complete. At 6-foot-11 with guard-like handles, athleticism, a smooth jumper and soft touch around the rim, Winter is the kind of prospect every Division I coaching staff is searching for.
Nolan Winter dropped 30 points in a win over Lakeville South on Friday! Highlights of the Wisconsin committed senior @NolanWinter5
Full highlights: https://t.co/2cclqSiU5Z pic.twitter.com/P1PVUcgMdY
— Fresh Coast Hoops (@FreshCoastHoops) January 8, 2023
Look no further for evidence of Winter’s special skill set than a week in February.
In a win over rival Lakeville South on Feb. 7, Winter dropped 32 points and surpassed 1,000 career points in the process. Just three days later, he set a new career high with 47 points in a win over Farmington.
“He’s tall and can score around the basket with post moves, but he can also step out and hit 3-pointers,” Farmington head coach Tharen Johnso said of Winter in a press release. “He is a defensive presence around the basket, blocking shots.
“Our whole game plan against Lakeville North always began with how to defend him.”
He became just the seventh Panther in school history to eclipse the 1,000 career points mark and only Macura (1,811), Reuvers (1,619) and Wahl (1,423) have scored more points in a Lakeville North jersey than Winter (1,332).
“I had about a two-week stretch there where I was averaging about 35 points a game; I was in a zone and just felt like everything was falling for me,” Winter said. “Teammates were finding me, coaches were drawing up good plays and I was feeling good about my game.
“That was a fun stretch I had right there and I’ll remember that for a while.”
Hey Madison WI,
I think you're going to like your latest Lakeville North installment.Future Badger Nolan Winter (6'11") put up 32-points tonight in a 21pt win over #8 LVille South.
He also surpassed 1,000 career points.@NolanWinter5 @KSTP|@KSTPSports pic.twitter.com/rGjobTk7hd
— Alec Ausmus (@A_TwiceKSTP) February 8, 2023
Winter’s dominance wasn’t limited to a hot, two-week run of basketball, either.
After averaging a team-high 18 points and nearly 10 rebounds as a junior, the three-star recruit kicked it up a notch as a senior.
Winter averaged 23.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.3 blocks through 27 games this season while leading the Panthers (28-4, tied for second-most wins in program history) to their first state tournament appearance in four years. Despite losing in the 4A-Section 1 state semifinals to Wayzata, the Panthers were still able to hang a banner after Winter dropped 23 points (including 17 in the second half) during a win in the state tournament’s third-place game.
It wasn’t the storybook ending to an excellent high school career that Winter wanted, but there was plenty to celebrate, including being named the 2022-23 Gatorade Minnesota Boys Basketball Player of the Year (the first ever from Lakeville North).
“It was great, I mean, obviously it’s a really prestigious award,” Winter said. “Whenever you’re recognized with something like that, it’s kind of a moment where you step back and realize how far you’ve come.”
Winter has certainly come a long way on his journey to becoming arguably the state’s top player, even in the last few years.
Despite his father being a 7-foot-tall former college basketball player at Minnesota and his mother playing college volleyball (also for the Gophers), Winter was a late bloomer. He grew up a guard, playing on the perimeter and standing just 6-foot-4 as a freshman. Winter grew to 6-foot-7 as a sophomore before taking another leap to 6-foot-9 as a junior.
Now standing at 6-foot-11, Winter’s game has evolved right along with his height.
“As he’s evolved with his body, he’s just continued to use all those skills that he developed years and years ago and they’re serving him well now,” Oxton said. “You take a kid that’s 6-foot-11 and has the skill set that he has, it makes him a really, really good player.”
Winter views himself as a “modern-day stretch four” with the ability to shoot the ball efficiently from deep and use his height in the post.
The Wisconsin Badgers and head coach Greg Gard have targeted this kind of skill set over the last few seasons and talented bigs like Reuvers, Micah Potter, Frank Kaminsky and others have filled this role in recent years. It’s part of the reason Winter committed to Wisconsin in September and could himself fitting in seamlessly.
“I could really see myself playing there and not only playing there, but just being around the team, I could see myself fitting in with them really well,” Winter said of Wisconsin. “The coaches, Greg Gard and Joe Krabbenhoft, really made me feel welcomed and like a family, even when I was still a recruit.”
Best player in Minnesota is a Badger
Congrats, @NolanWinter5! 👏#OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/dLSNOqduHx
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) March 15, 2023
Winter is following in the footsteps of both Reuvers and Wahl on the Lakeville North-to-Madison pipeline, but that familiarity didn’t play too much of a factor in his decision to commit to the Badgers.
Nonetheless, Winter is proud to be a part of the strong history of Lakeville North basketball.
“Just considering how our high school has produced three Wisconsin Badgers – and, actually, four with Jack Robison who’s in the grade below me – it’s pretty cool,” Winter said.
Winter and Robison will team up again in Madison for the 2024-25 campaign and given how much the senior has developed over the last few seasons, it’s exciting to think about what another two years of growth will look like.
The next step of Winter’s development will come in the weight room as he plans to gain the muscle and weight needed to match the big men of the Big Ten. With a tight handle and sweet shooting stroke already in his bag, the Badgers’ strength and conditioning program could result in another leap for Winter.
“He’s very, very versatile for a kid who’s 6-foot-11, still very young and not even close to where he’s going to be physically,” Oxton said of Winter. “He’s just got all the makings of a great player.
“I see that’s where he’s going to be, an inside-out player who can score in the post and then step out and shoot a three as well. But, I think going into it, it’s going to be more of his perimeter game and just as he evolves with his body and stuff like that, like I said, I think he’ll become that inside-out player who Wisconsin has envisioned as they’ve been recruiting him.”
Wisconsin missed the NCAA Tournament this year for just the second time since 1998. It was the first time the Badgers have missed out on March Madness since 2018 (Gard’s third season in charge) and Winter hopes it’s just a one-year drought.
But before you can go dancing in March, Winter understands that you must first take care of business in the Big Ten and he’s ready to do just that.
“I mean, obviously, the goal every year is to win the Big Ten Tournament and Big Ten Conference; you want to win those and get to the NCAA Tournament,” Winter said. “For me, I want to build good relationships with teammates and then just have fun while doing it.
“It’s going to be some of the best years of my life so I want to take it all in but I also want to get to work and win a lot of games with my brothers. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
