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Wisconsin football recruiting: Osa Masina, Semisi Uluave name top fives; Badgers eye Anthony McKee

The Badgers continue to inch closer to a few more possible commits, as Osa Masina and Semisi Uluave both named Wisconsin in their recent respective top fives.

By Drew Hamm
Osa Masina at the Nike Football SPARQ Combine in Salt Lake City.
Osa Masina at the Nike Football SPARQ Combine in Salt Lake City.
Student Sports

Hey, guys. We know we owe you one. It has been too long (/checks last recruiting update //sees that it's from July 2nd ///screams internally for 30 seconds) since we last dropped a recruiting notebook on you, but we're back now. We have such a wonderful, growing community of Badgers fans here and we would like to thank the more knowledgeable recruiting commenters for keeping everyone abreast of recruiting situations in the comments of certain football posts. It always blows my mind when a group of internet commenters are welcoming, smart and clever, and I think that it's important to note that from time to time. So again, thanks for understanding that we have other things going on in our lives.

Alright, enough with the niceties. Let's get back to yelling about sports. WOOOOOO SPORTS!

Checking in with...

Osa Masina: We first mentioned Masina as a sort of footnote to the Austin Kafentzis signing 13 months ago. Since then, no fewer than 25 posts on B5Q have name-checked the four-star outside linebacker out of Utah (Brighton), and for good reason. Masina is the top rated player (247Composite) in Utah, a state that the Wisconsin coaching staff has a lot of connections to, and a top-10 OLB in the country. Many thought Wisconsin was a bit of a long shot to land Masina, but then he left UW in his top eight, and four days ago he put the Badgers in his top five.

A somewhat surprising omission from the list is Utah. The Salt Lake Tribune notes that both of Masina's brothers currently play at Utah, and this is a pretty big blow to the Utes on the recruiting trail. UCLA appears to be the favorite and Arizona State can get bent forever (obligatory). Masina is a true talent and already has DI size (6'4, 230 pounds) and speed. Despite loading up on linebackers in this class already, Masina would be an obvious take for Wisconsin.

Semisi Uluave: The Badgers are sitting pretty right now with three offensive linemen ready to join the team next year, but are looking for a fourth road grader to round out the class. As it happens, a versatile, enormous, four-star Hawaiian guard/tackle is still very much in play for UW. Uluave announced his top five on Saturday and much like Masina, the Badgers find themselves on the list.

While most signs seems to point towards the Badgers pursuing Kevin Estes, a California tackle, the hardest, I don't think it would be a terrible idea to continue looking at Uluave as well. He's a mauler (No. 58 in this brief Hudl video) and if he picks UW, he could help in any future endeavors the Badgers make to the Aloha State.

Anthony McKee: Way back at the end of May, I was still an unmarried bachelor living a swinging, single lifestyle, but a more relevant/truthful fact is that this was also when the Badgers offered the four-star LB out of Columbus. I said soon after that an offer from the Columbus satellite campus for the University of Phoenix could change the way McKee was leaning. Well, that offer has yet to come, as McKee is a bit concerned about the depth chart for the Buckeyes according to Syracuse.com:

"I don't want to go to a school that's stacked like Ohio State," McKee said. "I don't want to go to a school like that, where they've already got like 12 linebackers. I don't want to fall deep in the depth chart."

With the Badgers graduating four seniors at linebacker, McKee could see early playing time in Madison and the Badgers are represented in his top ten.

Unfortunately, the leader appears to be Michigan State with Kentucky (somehow) trailing far behind in second. I'm not as giddy about McKee coming to Wisconsin as I was in my previous post, but it's always nice to see the Badgers making final lists for top prospects. #moralvictories

Quick hitters

The Badgers threw out two offers in the last week: one was to ATH/DE/TE Jake Pickard, whom Rosin broke down recently, and the other was to UCLA RB commit Bolu Olorunfunmi.

I'm not sure what Wisconsin's play is with Olorunfunmi, who has been committed to the Bruins since March, but if you watch this video from his Hudl profile it might give you an idea why Wisconsin is interested.

(SPOILER ALERT: I didn't make it past the 99-yard touchdown run, which was awesome! DOUBLE SPOILER ALERT: THE SECOND PLAY IS A 96-yard touchdown run!!!!!!) Ok, so it seems Olorunfunmi is what baseball fans would call a home-run hitter. Also, I lied. I watched his whole highlight video. He reminds me of a James White with his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and get outside quickly. It's great to see Gary Andersen and crew don't quit until the ink is dry on letters of intent.

Basketball quick hitters

The train keeps on rolling for Henry Ellenson:

Wisconsin is definitely still in the hunt for the touted big man from Rice Lake, but the more offers from schools like Kentucky and Duke he gets the less likely he is to stay home.

On a brighter note, Minnesota landed a commitment on Saturday.

This might make Minneapolis point guard Jarvis Johnson hesitant to join the Gophers, and look across the border to Madison, though Ryan James seems to think that the two could play together a la Ryan Boatright and Shabazz Napier.

For the near future, we'll be churning out two notebooks per week, until major happenings start, uh, happening. Eloquence is my middle name.

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