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Wisconsin football recruiting: RB Jordan Scarlett leaves Badgers out of top 4

The Badgers had been chasing former FAU commit Jordan Scarlett, but now appear out of the running.

By Mike Fiammetta
Student Sports

We've mentioned Jordan Scarlett several times as a viable running back target for Wisconsin's 2015 class. The FAU commit never seemed bound to the Owls, and the expectation was that he'd decommit before long.

That indeed happened Friday, though the news isn't good for the Badgers: they fall outside of his top four schools.

Scarlett's a prized running back prospect for 2015; 247 Sports' composite rankings consider him the country's No. 11 back, as well as the No. 99 overall player. With recruiting coordinator Chris Beatty and Georgia/Southeast maven Thomas Brown leading Wisconsin's pursuit, it seemed as though the Badgers could fight for Scarlett until the very end. They also had the added benefit of familiarity with his high school, St. Thomas Aquinas, which produced former running back James White and safety Dezmen Southward. Alas, they were always up against the proximity of Florida State, Miami and South Carolina; Scarlett confirmed as much to 247 ($) on Friday.

Wisconsin, which still hasn't landed a running back commit for 2015, now must turn elsewhere. Detroit (Cass Technical) prospect Michael Weber likely remains UW's No. 1 target. The No. 9 247Composite running back is also another top-100 player, though Michigan State's considered the leader ahead of Ohio State and Wisconsin.

Other names to consider are Jordan Stevenson (a Texas commit who's a teammate of UW commits Takadrae Williams and X'zaviae Ausborne), T.J. Simmons (another Florida prospect who has the Badgers in his top five), Mon Denson (a Georgia running back whom Brown has been pursuing hard) and Devine Ozigbo (another Texas running back; we discussed him in Friday morning's recruiting notebook).

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