Could Nolan Winter Be The Next To Go From Lakeville To Madison?

LAKEVILLE, MN —Earlier this week, Lakeville North's 6-foot-11 senior-to-be Nolan Winter revealed on social media that he was offered a basketball scholarship by Wake Forest.

A three-star forward in the class of 2023, Winter will add that to several other offers, including from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Stanford, Xavier, Oregon State and St. Thomas.

On Gopher Illustrated.com on Thursday, Winter was listed as one of eight high school players categorized as "Top Gopher Targets."

While Minnesota's second-year head coach Ben Johnson would seem to have a recruiting advantage with a player right in the Gophers' backyard, Wisconsin has a history of successfully recruiting players from Lakeville North.

Tyler Wahl, a 2019 Lakeville North graduate, will be a senior for the Badgers this coming season. The 6-9 Wahl started all 32 games for Wisconsin last season, averaging 11.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per contest.

Meanwhile, Nate Reuvers, a 2017 Lakeville North grad, started 104 games in his Wisconsin career before going to play professionally overseas. According to Proballers.com, Reuvers spent this past season playing for KK Cibona in Croatia.

According to BadgersWire, Wisconsin assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft is acting as Winter's lead recruiter.

Winter gave the website an update on his interactions with the Badgers.

"We talk very often, and (Krabbenhoft) has been able to make it to a lot of my games this spring so far," Winter said. "The thing that stands out about Wisconsin is how early they started to recruit me, and from that day on we've been in constant contact. The staff and I are very comfortable, and we frequently will have calls or shoot texts back and forth. It's a great college and program with awesome people controlling it."

Winter continued: "The staff at Wisconsin sees me in a stretch-four type of role. They often compare me to Jon Leuer back in the day. Someone who can shoot from the outside, along with getting into the paint and using my size to my advantage in multiple ways. I think I could have a big role from the beginning."

Winter told the publication that Wisconsin "has and will be toward the top" of his list.

"It's a great college and I have a ton of respect for the school," Winter said. "They just got two huge recruits and I feel like if I were to go there, we could all complement each other's games really well."

Winter said he did not have a timeline for when he will make a college decision.