Bucky's 5th Quarter - All Posts

WISCruiting Weekly: May 22, 2013

2013-05-22T19:24:03Z

It was a big week in recruiting for the Badgers, as they notched two more commitments to their latest class. The commitments of defensive end Billy Hirschfeld of Harland, Wis., and athlete (projected to be a fullback) Ula Tolutau of Salt Lake City, Utah, mark the fifth and sixth commits of the 2014 class, respectively. These recent additions move Wisconsin up to the 30th national ranking in recruiting, according to 247Sports.

In response to his commitment, Hirschfeld told Badger247:

"I've visited Wisconsin so many times, I just felt that I didn't need to do anymore visits to any other schools," said Hirschfeld. "I knew where I wanted to go."

Read here for more of our coverage on Hirschfeld's commitment.

As for Tolutau, he marks UW's first out-of-state commit of the 2014 class. Tolutau has not yet visited Madison, but Wisconsin was his "dream location" because of the way it runs the ball and he was very impressed by head coach Gary Andersen, as well.

Defensive line coach Chad Kauha'aha'a was the primary recruiter of Tolutau -- his first commit as an assistant coach at Wisconsin -- and according to Flood, he visited the Salt Lake City recruit on Monday before Tolutau eventually committed on Wednesday.

Commits:

-- May 15: DE Billy Hirschfeld, Hartland, WI. | 6-foot-6, 270 pounds

-- May 16: ATH Ula Tolutau, Salt Lake City, UT. | 6-foot-1, 230 pounds

Offers:

(All are Class of 2014 unless otherwise noted).

-- May 15: DE Trent Harris, Winter Park, FL. | 6-foot-2, 226 pounds

-- May 15: DE Tyree Owens, Oviedo, FL. | 6-foot-3, 235 pounds

-- May 15: (Not Rated - Class of 2015) S/CB Iman Marshall, Long Beach, CA. | 6-foot-2, 195 pounds

-- May 16: (Not Rated - Class of 2015) OLB Quarte Sapp, Alpharetta, GA. | 6-foot-2, 190 pounds

-- May 16: (Not Rated - Class of 2016) WR Nate Craig, Dade City, FL. | 6-foot-2, 195 pounds

-- May 17: (Not Rated - Class of 2015) RB Nasir Bonner, Philadelphia, PA. | 5-foot-10, 180 pounds

-- May 17: CB Al Harris, Fort Lauderdale, FL. | 5-foot-11, 160 pounds

-- May 17: DE Jarvis Polu, Henderson, NV. | 6-foot-4, 250 pounds

-- May 17: (Not Rated - Class of 2015) QB-PRO Jayru Campbell, Detroit, MI. | 6-foot-3, 190 pounds

-- May 18: CB Deion Hallmon, Fort Lauderdale, FL. | 5-foot-10, 160 pounds

-- May 20: DE/TE Rick Leonard, Middletown, MD. | 6-foot-7, 260 pounds

-- May 20: RB Chris James, Niles, IL. | 5-foot-10, 212 pounds

-- May 20: (Not Rated) OT Jon Bezney, Cincinnati, OH. | 6-foot-5, 260 pounds

-- May 21: ILB Jaboree Williams, Fort Lauderdale, FL. | 6-foot-1, 215 pounds

-- May 21: S Andre Godfrey, Hollywood, FL. | 6-foot-1, 180 pounds

-- May 21: (Not Rated - Class of 2015) RB Alex Anderson, Hollywood, FL. | 5-foot-10, 190 pounds

-- May 21: (Not Rated) WR/CB Kenzo Cotton, Papillion, NE. | 6-foot-1, 191 pounds

-- May 21: (Not Rated - Class of 2015) ILB Cecil Cherry, Frostproof, FL. | 6-foot, 220 pounds

-- May 21: S Kendall Gant, Lakeland, FL. | 6-foot-2, 185 pounds

Unofficial Visits to Madison:

-- May 16: ILB Colton Moskal, Lake Zurich, IL. | 6-foot-1, 215 pounds

Coaching Visits:

Defensive line coach Chad Kauha'aha'a:

-- May 15: WR Eric Lauderdale, Mission Viejo, CA. | 6-foot-2, 195 pounds

-- May 16: DE Uriah Leiataua, Compton, CA. | 6-foot-2, 232 pounds

Wide receivers coach Chris Beatty:

-- May 15: DE Tyree Owens, Oviedo, FL. | 6-foot-3, 235 pounds

-- May 20: (Not Rated) QB-PRO Marcus Johnson, New Smyrna Beach, FL. | 6-foot-1, 195 pounds

-- May 21: ILB Jaboree Williams, Fort Lauderdale, FL. | 6-foot-1, 215 pounds

Offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig:

-- May 15: QB-DUAL D.J. Gillins, Jacksonville, FL. | 6-foot-3, 185 pounds

Running backs coach Thomas Hammock:

-- May 17: RB Chris James, Niles, IL. | 5-foot-10, 212 pounds

-- May 20: RB Joe Mixon, Oakley, CA. | 6-foot-2, 195 pounds

-- May 20: RB Royce Freedom, Imperial, CA. | 5-foot-11, 215 pounds

Defensive coordinator Dave Aranda:

-- May 17: OLB Vincent Jackson, Tampa, FL. | 6-foot-2, 235 pounds

Tight ends coach and special teams coordinator Jeff Genyk:

-- May 17: (Not Rated - Class of 2015) QB-PRO Jayru Campbell, Detroit, MI. | 6-foot-3, 190 pounds

Secondary coach Ben Strickland:

-- May 21: (Not Rated - Class of 2015) OLB/DE Jashon Cornell, St. Paul, MN. | 6-foot-4, 230 pounds

-- May 22: (Not Rated) QB-PRO Ricardo Johnson III, St. Paul, MN. | 6-foot-1, 178 pounds

2013 college football bowl schedule released

2013-05-22T17:16:47Z

The final BCS bowl schedule was released on Wednesday, setting the stage for the final lineup in the pre-College Football Playoff era. The final BCS National Championship will be played Jan. 6, 2014, and there a few other changes that SB Nation's Jason Kirk laid out here.

Assuming the Big Ten does indeed place a team in the Rose Bowl, five conference teams will be playing on New Year's Day. That holiday cluster is nothing new -- Big Ten teams went 1-4 on New Year's Day last time around, with only Northwestern managing a win. It's also relatively frustrating -- between the forced channel-surfing (my attention span is limited enough as it is) and the Big Ten's recent level of bowl-season crapitude, the cluster is generally aggravating to most fans of the conference.

Also, and it's probably not much compensation, but this schedule brings the 100th Rose Bowl Game Presented by Vizio. Presumably, the first few Rose Bowls weren't Presented by Vizio, but either way, that's a cool round number we can celebrate. Rose Bowl stadium renovations are also expected to be completed by then, so that'll actually be cool. At least I think so -- this schedule .PDF is one heck of an eyesore.

10 burning questions for Wisconsin football in 2013: 1-2

2013-05-22T14:44:47Z

Who will emerge as the No. 2 wide receiver?

Last season, Wisconsin’s No. 1 wide out, then-junior Jared Abbrederis, recorded 49 catches for 837 yards and five touchdowns. The rest of the Badgers’ wide receivers? Try a combined 48 catches, 446 yards and two touchdowns between five other players.

Kenzel Doe had a strong showing at the spring game with eight receptions and 93 yards, as new offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig used the speedy slot man in a variety of ways. Heading into his junior year, Doe will need to work on both his strength and his release off the line. Because of his lack of size (5-foot-8, 171 pounds) Doe needs to find a way to get himself in open space. It’s in those moments that Doe can show off his shiftiness and speed, like he did on a decisive punt return touchdown against Utah State last year. Those moments were still far and few in between, as he recorded just 16 catches in 14 games.

Perhaps the favorite heading into the fall to win the No. 2 spot is Jordan Frederick, who showed promise as a redshirt freshman in 2012. Frederick recorded 17 catches for 196 yards and a touchdown, the second-best numbers behind Abbrederis.

Frederick is strong, able-bodied and young, making him a promising prospect. Unlike Doe, Frederick has a solid frame (6-foot--3, 210 pounds) that helped him gain separation in his route running. He’s still raw, so it will be intriguing to see how much of a jump he makes speed and strength wise in his summer training program. Sophomore A.J. Jordan could also compete for this spot.

Besides Abbrederis, there is no deep threat in the group. You could make the argument that if it wasn’t for in-state recruits, the wide receiver position might be one of the most poorly-recruited over the last several years. Think about it. Besides the son of a Badger legend in Nick Toon (Middleton) and a little known walk-on in Abbrederis (Wautoma), Wisconsin hasn’t produced a stellar receiver since Lee Evans.

It’s a tough sell to a high school receiver to come to Wisconsin. Most kids probably have the outdated impression that the Badgers will run the ball every down. The truth is, UW is becoming more of a pro-style offense every season. But, that doesn’t matter if your quarterback can’t throw the ball accurately.

Who will Wisconsin start a quarterback in 2013, and will he be a solid passer?

There’s no point of having an elite, All-American-caliber wide receiver like Abbrederis if you don’t have a quarterback who can get him the ball. In the five full games Stave played in 2012, Abbrederis had three games of 100 yards or more receiving and three touchdowns. Without Stave? No 100-yard games and no touchdowns.

Although many media members have narrowed this quarterback battle down to a two-horse race between redshirt sophomore Joel Stave and sixth-year senior Curt Phillips, the starting spot remains wildly open.

Although Stave seemingly separated himself from Phillips with a 15-for-20 performance in the spring game, he still struggles with inconsistency in practice, which is the reason Phillips (who went 8-for-13 in the spring game) couldstill be the favorite at this point to win the job, even though Stave far and away has the better arm and accuracy of the two.

Phillips lacks arm strength to utilize Abbrederis’ strong double-moves on verticals down the field, so Stave seems, at this point, the player who would give Wisconsin the most options through the air. Still, it’s hard to go as far as saying Phillips isn’t an effective passer. He makes good decisions and is a strong game manager, but once again, Phillips just couldn’t get the ball deep last season.

And don’t count out the dark horse in this race, Tanner McEvoy. A junior college recruit signed by Gary Andersen within months of taking the Wisconsin job, McEvoy is a big talent who landed with the Badgers through a combination of poor decisions and hard work to alleviate those decisions.

A highly-touted recruit who ended up signing with South Carolina, McEvoy (6-foot-6, 215 pounds) had a high school career that culminated with him winning the state offensive player of the year in New Jersey in 2010, also his first season playing quarterback. A converted wide receiver and running back, McEvoy is truly a dual-threat, running for 1,196 yards and 14 touchdowns to go along with his 2,264 yards and 32 touchdowns through the air his senior year.

After getting pulled over for speeding and consuming alcohol under the age of 21 in the summer of 2012, McEvoy also found himself buried deep in the Gamecocks’ depth chart at quarterback. So, he elected to transfer and play at Western Arizona, a junior college.

McEvoy chose to transfer to Wisconsin over offers from Oregon, West Virginia and Florida. His 4.6-second 40-yard dash time and his results at Western Arizona -- 1,813 yards and 24 touchdowns through the air with 252 yards and four touchdowns on the ground – show that he is still quite the talent.

The dual-threat capabilities of McEvoy are much like Andersen’s old quarterback at Utah State, Chuckie Keeton. Even though the latest transfer to Wisconsin will be behind in terms of playbook knowledge when he begins competition in fall camp, he still has the skill set and athleticism to win the job.

As far as redshirt freshman Bart Houston goes, he simply needs a bit more time. It was obvious watching practices in the spring that Houston has the best arm strength of any quarterback on the current UW roster, but he is still raw and learning the ropes of the college game.

Danny O’Brien? Chase Knox will start before he does.

Wisconsin Football Recruiting Targets

2013-05-21T14:52:00Z

Go to National Signing Day Coverage >>

Early enrollees: 2

CB Keelon Brookins, St. Paul MN |
CB Sojourn Shelton, Fort Lauderdale FL |

Players signed: 16

Grayshirts: 3

TE Troy Fumagalli, Aurora IL |
DT Sam Raridon, Des Moines IA |
ATH Austin Ramesh, Eagle River WI |

Walk-ons: 3

ATH D.J. Spurling, Slinger WI | NR
ATH Joe Ferguson, Madison WI | NR
LB Jack Chichy, Somerset WI | NR

Decommits: 4

OT Darius Latham, Indianapolis IN - Indiana
S Marcus Ball, Westerville OH - Arizona State
S Tiquention Coleman, Milledgeville GA / JUCO - Arkansas
S Tyler Foreman, Encino CA - UCLA

Hard commits: 5

Soft commits: 1

DT Craig Evans, Sun Prairie WI |

Scholarships offered: 25

Decommits: 1

QB-PRO Chance Stewart, Sturgis MI |

Scholarship offered:

QB-PRO Austin Kafentzis, Sandy UT | NR
DE Jashon Cornell, St. Paul MN | NR

Legend:
player has B5Q recruiting profile
composite star rating compiled by 247Sports.com

Badger Bits: The Gary Andersen regime's recruiting approach

2013-05-21T14:29:58Z

Over the last few weeks, we've introduced (or really, reintroduced) a series called "WISCruiting Weekly," in which I cover everything UW recruiting from the past week. With the football offseason in full swing and the summer weather FINALLY taking over, there's been a lack of headlines for UW football and basketball, so I figured I'd point out something interesting I've noticed from covering recruiting.

Gary Andersen and his new coaching staff have truly covered the country in their recruiting efforts, and at least in the past month, they've focused primarily on the state of Georgia. Below I've listed a breakdown of recruiting by state, combining the scholarship offers and coaching visits over the past four weeks (so there is a little overlap if a player was offered a scholarship and visited by a coach over the past four weeks).

Top 10 states:

Georgia: 26

Ohio: 11

Illinois: 8

Florida: 8

California: 6

Pennsylvania: 6

New Jersey: 5

Virginia: 5

Michigan: 4

Arizona: 3

Every coaching staff brings a different approach to recruiting, and although the Badgers have only snagged one out-of-state commit for their 2014 recruiting class thus far, it's interesting to see where they've spent the most time recruiting in the past month.

LINKS:

J.J. Watt continues to impress off the field as much as he does with his play on Sundays.

Check out who was eliminated in Round 2 of BTN's Big Ten helmet bracket.

There's 100 days remaining until the start of college football, so the ESPN.com Big Ten bloggers have decided to begin a series with a checklist of 100 things that must be done in time for the beginning of the regular season.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany remains No. 2 in salary for conference commissioners.

Tom Oates writes why upgrading non-conference football schedules is great and all but it won't necessarily benefit UW season ticket holders.

The crop may look a bit weaker than Big Ten fans would prefer, but Mel Kiper points out the top draft prospects from the conference.

Wisconsin football recruiting: Badgers offer Al Harris Jr., son of former Green Bay Packer

2013-05-21T14:07:57Z

Two years after retiring from the NFL, former Green Bay Packers cornerback Al Harris is watching his son transition to football on a high level. Al Jr. is currently a cornerback at St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Fla, and just picked up an offer from the Badgers for the 2014 class.

At 5-foot-11, 160 pounds, the younger Al is a slightly smaller cornerback than his dad, who played around 6-foot-1, 190 pounds and is now the assistant secondary coach for the Kansas City Chiefs. At St. Thomas Aquinas -- fertile grounds for the Badgers, who recruited running back James White from there -- Harris is a 3-star cornerback, currently No. 65 at the position for the 2014 class, according to 247Sports.

More: UW football recruiting targets

Harris has spent a lot of time in Wisconsin, living there on and off while Harris Sr. was a member of the Packers.

"He knows how cold it gets there," Harris Sr. said. "He likes the snow. He enjoyed it when the snow was on the ground. It was a little different from Florida, but he enjoyed it."

Harris has been offered by 16 schools, including Cincinnati, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rutgers, South Carolina and UCLA alongside Wisconsin. It's still obviously early, and Harris continues to generate interest. After receiving his offer from the Badgers on Friday, Florida International followed with one the next day. He hasn't claimed any leaders yet and will begin making his round of visits this summer.

The Badgers have received six commits thus far for 2014, three on defense counting soft commit Craig Evans (DT, Sun Prairie). In the secondary, Wisconsin is also interested in CB Troy Vincent (Baltimore), S DaeJuan Funderburk (Washington, D.C.) and S Christian Bynum (Virginia Beach, Va.).

HUDL Video

Badgers receive verbal commitment from Burnsville forward Brock Boeser

2013-05-21T06:48:54Z

The Minnesota city of Burnsville has always been good to the Badgers. Most recently, players like Tyler Barnes and Eddie Wittchow have made successful journeys from the Blaze hockey program to Wisconsin. Going further back, Dan Boeser and Mark Osiecki were elite players from the Twin Cities suburb who ended up in Madison.

Wisconsin struck again in Burnsville Monday, landing a commitment from Boeser's younger cousin, Brock.

Proud and Excited to announce that I have committed to play my college hockey at The University of Wisconsin! #Badgers
— Brock Boeser (@BBoeser16) May 21, 2013

As a sophomore forward for Burnsville last season, Boeser registered 12 goals and 34 points in just 19 games for the Blaze. Boeser teamed up with Cole Borchardt and Ohio State commit Tyler Sheehy to form one of the top lines in Minnesota last year.

Boeser's older cousin, Dan, played at Wisconsin from 2000-04 and was a tri-captain his senior season. Dan Boeser's tenure included two seasons under current Badgers' head coach Mike Eaves, who took over the program before the 2002-03 season.

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Brock Boeser is one of the top 1997-born players in the United States, and was was recently invited to the USA Hockey Select 16 festival that will take place in Williamsville, N.Y., in July. Boeser was also recently selected as the No. 2 overall pick by the Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL Phase I draft for 1997-born players.

"(Boeser) is a power forward with good skills," Sioux City assistant coach Keith Paulsen said after the draft. "He's got a quick release and can score when it counts."

MNHockeyProspects.com describes Boeser as "A very intense player that possesses great size and skill to match." They went on to add, "the sky is the limit for Boeser, as his skating and hands have improved a great deal throughout the year."

In addition to Wisconsin, Boeser also visited Minnesota and Michigan. Boeser was also recruited by Ohio State before head coach Mark Osiecki was fired in April.

For more hockey coverage, follow Andy on Twitter -- Follow @AndyJohnsonB5Q
You can also reach Andy via e-mail (AndyJohnsonB5Q@gmail.com)

Wisconsin, Big Ten assistant coach salaries rising

2013-05-20T17:46:35Z

Setting aside the obvious and all-too-easy pokes at Bret Bielema, it's not so surprising to see Wisconsin is paying its assistant coaches more. The trend, as numbers from a Detroit Free Press database show, is pervasive across the conference.

Eight of the 10 schools that reported salaries -- Northwestern (a private institution) and Penn State (because of state laws) do not have to comply with open records requests -- are paying assistants more than they did in 2013. Only Illinois and Indiana are excluded, and overall, it's amounted to a conference-wide $1,720,852.24 increase for this year.

Wisconsin's salary pool for assistants is $2,495,000, fourth-highest in the Big Ten and up from $1.973 million in 2012, which was the seventh-highest mark in the conference. That increase is the largest among the nine other schools reporting their numbers, which is equal parts interesting and obvious considering the ruckus Bielema caused upon repeatedly citing limited financial resources for assistants as a reason for his departure to Arkansas.

*COACH*	*POSITION*	*SALARY*
Dave Aranda	Defensive coordinator/LBs	$480,000
Andy Ludwig	Offensive coordinator/QBs	$480,000
Thomas Hammock	Assistant head coach/RBs/recruiting	$300,000
T.J. Woods	Offensive line	$250,000
Bill Busch	Safeties	$220,000
Jeff Genyk	Tight ends/special teams	$220,000
Chad Kauha'aha'a	Defensive line	$205,000
Chris Beatty	Wide receivers	$200,000
Ben Strickland	Cornerbacks	$140,000
Total		$2,495,000

*SCHOOL*	*CHANGE FROM 2012*
1. Wisconsin	$522,000
2. Nebraska	$518,500
3. Purdue	$400,000
4. Minnesota	$355,000
5. Ohio State	$196,000
6. Iowa	$158, 052
7. Michigan State	$93,775
8. Michigan	$50,000
9. Indiana	-$3,699.76
10. Illinois	-$249,000
Overall	$1,720,852.24

Considering the Badgers 1) Lost six assistants after the 2012 Rose Bowl, and 2) Imported nearly an entirely new staff this past offseason, that lengthy increase is all the more significant. Also positive are the pay increases given to the holdovers from the 2012 staff: Hammock ($70,000) and Strickland ($36,400). The former's work with Montee Ball, James White, Melvin Gordon and the current crop of running backs has been critical to UW's sustained offensive production, while the latter has been absolutely huge in recruiting -- especially considering the value of his in-state knowledge to a staff entirely new to Wisconsin.

These numbers, at least Wisconsin's, aren't new information. Back in March, the university released the figures, and they seemed to back up the staunch defense Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez set forth in response to Bielema. UW officials say the $2.5 million pool first-year head coach Gary Andersen has to pay assistants is the same Bielema had.

From madison.com:

"If that's true, it means Bielema would have left more than $500,000 unused. That would seem to contradict his contention that he needed more money to keep assistants from leaving. Bielema has declined multiple interview requests since his departure to address that issue.

One reason UW is able to pay assistants more is Andersen will make $1.8 million this season, which is a savings of $1 million from the $2.8 million Bielema was scheduled to receive at UW in 2013. Bielema made $2.7 million last year."

For what it's worth, Bielema has $3 million to pay assistants at Arkansas this season. It appears he's used that pool to favor the top coordinators -- OC Jim Chaney and DC (and Wisconsin carryover) Chris Ash will both make $550,000 this year, as well as fellow ex-Wisconsin assistant Charlie Partridge, who will get $350,000 to coach the defensive line.

Either way, the Bielema issue belongs to the past -- we've moved on to dissecting his new kitchen and pondering his recent conversation with a certain ex-United States president from Arkansas. The fact remains the Big Ten is more on par with the national landscape in terms of assistant pay. Sure, Cam Cameron will get $3.4 million to run LSU's offense over the next three years, but if we're truly concerned about these things, we could cancel that out with the Big Ten hauling in a record $315 million in revenue in 2012.

For possibly legitimate gripes more relevant to Wisconsin, we could argue Strickland still deserves more dough -- he's the conference's fifth-lowest-paid assistant and earning less than position coaches at Illinois and Indiana.

Broader picture: the average Big Ten assistant coach salary is $267,640.30. Michigan, Michigan State and Nebraska have the highest minimum salaries at no lower than $200,000.

*TOP 10 HIGHEST-PAID BIG TEN ASSISTANTS*
*COACH*	*POSITION*	*SALARY*
1. Greg Mattison	Michigan defensive coordinator	$750,000
2. Tim Beck	Nebraska offensive coordinator/QBs	$700,000
3. Al Borges	Michigan offensive coordinator	$600,000
Luke Fickell	Ohio State defensive coordinator/LBs	$600,000
5. Everett Withers	Ohio State assistant HC/co-DC/S	$580,000
6. Tom Herman	Ohio State offensive coordinator/QBs	$550,000
7. Pat Narduzzi	Michigan State assistant HC/DC	$512,5090
8. Dave Aranda	Wisconsin defensive coordinator/LBs	$480,000
Andy Ludwig	Wisconsin offensive coordinator/QBs	$480,000
10. Tim Banks	Illinois defensive coordinator/DBs	$400,000
Bill Cubit	Illinois offensive coordinator/QBs	$400,000
John Shoop	Purdue offensive coordinator/QBs	$480,000

*TOP 10 LOWEST-PAID BIG TEN ASSISTANTS*
*COACH*	*POSITION*	*SALARY*
1. Marcus Freeman	Purdue linebackers	$120,000
Jafar Williams	Purdue running backs	$120,000
3. Mike Bellamy	Illinois wide receivers	$125,000
4. Grad Parker	Purdue tight ends/recruiting	$130,000
5. Ben Strickland	Wisconsin cornerbacks	$140,000
6. Deland McCullough	Indiana running backs	$153,300
Brandon Shelby	Indiana cornerbacks	$153,300
8. Zach Smith	Ohio State wide receivers	$155,000
9. Greg Colby	Illinois defensive line	$180,000
A.J. Ricker	Illinois offensive line	$180,000
Al Seamonson	Illinois outside linebackers	$180,000