College Basketball Powerhouse Gets Critical Health Update. Can Fans Relax?

Wisconsin basketball fans finally have some good health news.

The Badgers are sliding in the wrong direction heading into the Big Ten Tournament. The program went 2-3 in its final five regular season games, Max Klesmit hasn't played since the early minutes against Washington, Nolan Winter got banged up against Penn State and it looked like whatever could go wrong was going wrong.

Now, the Badgers have a significant health update ahead of the team's first Big Ten Tournament game on Thursday. Wisconsin plays the winner of Northwestern/Minnesota.

*READ: IS WISCONSIN DOOMED IN MARCH?*

Can Wisconsin pull out of its slide ahead of the NCAA Tournament? (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

Wisconsin gets good health news.

"Feeling good. Gonna play…Really just trying to be there for my teammates still. It's been hard," Klesmit said of sitting out the last three games. "It's been more on the mental side. I've gotta do whatever is best for me to get my body in a position to play these games and be out there with the guys. I think I've put myself in a really good position to make a deep run in this Big Ten Tournament and this NCAA Tournament," Klesmit told the media Tuesday when announcing he's going to play in the B1G Tournament, according to 247Sports.

Klesmit has been dealing with a lower body injury that was re-aggravated and resulted in him missing three straight games.

The offense hasn't looked the same without him on the court. His return should be a huge boost for the Badgers.

Wisconsin guard Max Klesmit is planning on playing in the Big Ten Tournament. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)

 As for Nolan Winter, the incredibly talented big man is also expected to play Thursday. He was injured during the Penn State loss with an unspecified injury on a putback dunk.

"He said he feels good. The plan is he will be back and ready to go," head coach Greg Gard told the press, according to the same report.

If both play as they're now expected to, it will be the first time Wisconsin has been at 100% in weeks.

Wisconsin big man Nolan Winter is expected to play in the team's Big Ten Tournament game Thursday. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

The Badgers certainly need all the good news they can get right now after stumbling and falling to close out the regular season. Klesmit returning should be huge and Winter being healthy is also a significant boost. Now, it's time to see if the Badgers can turn things around before the NCAA Tournament starts. As a Wisconsin man, I certainly hope that's the case. Let me know what you think at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.