# John Tonje

John Tonje (/tɑːnˈdʒeɪ/ tahn-JAY; born April 23, 2001) is an American college basketball player for the Wisconsin Badgers of the Big Ten Conference.

## High school career

Tonje attended Omaha Central High School in Omaha, Nebraska, where he played basketball. As a sophomore, Tonje averaged 1.6 points per game but improved to 13.6 points per games as a junior. He was the second leading scorer for the Omaha Central Eagles during his junior campaign and connected on 46 percent of his three point attempts. As a senior, Tonje averaged a Nebraska Class A State best 23.8 points along with 6.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.4 assists per game. He helped led the Eagles to a 22-6 record and a runner-up finish at the state tournament. His 73 triples and 82 percent free throw percentage were tops at Class A. He set his school's single-season scoring record as a senior and earned first team All-State by USA Today and All-Class State All-Tournament team honors.

### Recruiting

Tonje received only 3 NCAA Division I or NCAA Division II offers out of high school from Nebraska Omaha, Missouri Western and Colorado State.
College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| John Tonje SG | North Omaha, NE | Omaha Central High School (NE) | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Mar 11, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Colorado State Commit List for 2019". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 16, 2024. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved November 16, 2024. "ESPN – Colorado State Rams Basketball Recruiting 2019". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 16, 2024. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved November 16, 2024. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 16, 2024. ||||||

## College career
### Colorado State

Tonje was a key contributor off the bench for the Rams during his freshman and sophomore seasons. Tonje scored a then career high 31 points in the first game of his junior season against Oral Roberts. Tonje was a key to the success being dubbed the Sixth man that helped lead the Rams to a NIT and getting to the semifinals. Tonje bounced back and forth between the bench and starting lineup throughout his junior season. He was a big part of the success of the 2020–21 Colorado State Rams men's basketball team that had a program best 16-1 start to the season. Tonje and the Rams qualified for the 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament as an at-large bid for the program's first time since 2013 finishing the season with a 25-6 record. The sixth seeded Rams were upset by the 11th seeded Michigan Wolverines. Tonje became a full-time starter for the first time during his senior season. He posted career per game highs in points (14.6), rebounds (4.7), assists (1.3), steals (0.8) and blocks (0.3). Tonje decided to enter the transfer portal after his 4th season due to the extra year of eligibility from to the COVID-19 season rule.

### Missouri

Tonje decided to transfer to Missouri. Tonje only appeared in 8 games with the Tigers due to a season ending foot injury. Tonje was granted a medical redshirt and a sixth year of eligibility. He then decided to enter the transfer portal for a second time.

### Wisconsin

Tonje was ranked as the 296th transfer portal player following the 2023-24 season. Tonje originally committed to Richard Pitino and New Mexico. Less than a week later, Tonje decommitted from New Mexico and committed to Wisconsin. In only his fourth career game with the Badgers, Tonje scored a career high 41 points in an upset victory over the 9th ranked Arizona Wildcats. His 41 points were the fourth most in a single game in Badgers history. Tonje also broke the Wisconsin single game record for made free throws with 21. Tonje was an unanimous pick to the First-team All-Big Ten following the regular season.

## Career statistics
### College

| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| 2019–20 | Colorado State | 31 | 0 | 8.4 | .461 | .435 | .677 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 3.6 |
| 2020–21 | Colorado State | 28 | 1 | 20.2 | .389 | .313 | .857 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 6.6 |
| 2021–22 | Colorado State | 30 | 12 | 25.3 | .461 | .364 | .821 | 3.0 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 9.1 |
| 2022–23 | Colorado State | 33 | 33 | 31.3 | .473 | .389 | .815 | 4.7 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 14.6 |
| 2023–24 | Missouri | 8 | 4 | 9.8 | .500 | .333 | 1.000 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.6 |
| 2024–25 | Wisconsin | 29 | 29 | 31.0 | .471 | .376 | .915 | 4.9 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 19.2 |
| Career | Career | 159 | 79 | 22.6 | .459 | .373 | .853 | 3.2 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 10.2 |

## Personal life

Tonje is the son of Sara and Jean. His father, Jean "Bertin" Tonje, is a native of Cameroon and played soccer for the Cameroon national football team. He has two brothers, Malcolm and Texan. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Colorado State in Business/Real Estate and is currently studying Sports Leadership as a graduate student.