Madison Reporter

Kamari McGee and Max Klesmit are feeling right at home at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The two in-state transfers are being heavily counted on this season in helping coach Greg Gard and the Badgers get over the loss of Johnny Davis and Brad Davison.

“They blended in right away,” assistant coach Dean Oliver recently told 24/7Sports.com. “Usually, you have a little bit of tension, guys are trying to find their own way and carve out roles. They came in and they embraced the competition, but at the same time, they got along with everyone right away off the court.”

While turning to the transfer portal for reinforcements is a deviation from the way the Badgers typically do things, in McGee and Klesmit they feel they know exactly what they’re getting.

At UW-Green Bay, McGee averaged nearly 12 points and two assists per game, with the Racine native telling reporters he was lured into making the jump to UW by the appeal of regularly competing against tougher competition.

"I wanted to be in an opportunity to get to that next level,” added McGee, who bagged All-Freshmen Horizon League honors. “I wanted to play against that level night in and night out.”

McGee—who ended his lone season at Green Bay on a run of averaging 17.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists on 50.7% shooting over his last five games—had his choice of four top schools to transfer to.

Klesmit spent two seasons at Wofford, where as a third-team All-SOCON selection as a sophomore he averaged 14.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 44.6% from the field.

A Neenah native, Klesmit settled on the Badgers after also drawing interest from South Carolina, Clemson, Vanderbilt and Colorado State.

The Badgers open the regular season on Nov. 7.