One of Wisconsin's most intriguing remaining targets for 2015 is Lake Braddock, Virginia, wide receiver A.J. Alexander. At 6'4, 220 pounds, Alexander is believed to mostly prefer wide receiver or safety. UW has indeed offered him at receiver, while Ohio State -- the other top candidate to land Alexander -- sees him as more of a H-back. Alexander will announce his decision on Friday.
Per @Evan_Flood & @RyanBartow, ATH AJ Alexander (4* Lake Braddock HS, VA) will pick a school on Friday. Down to #Badgers #Huskers #Buckeyes.
— Drew Hamm (@drewhamm5) September 10, 2014
Again, as mentioned above, it's believed that this will come down to Wisconsin and Ohio State. For those with a 247Sports VIP account, Evan Flood has an in-depth update with the latest on Alexander ($). For Crystal Ball fans, you can see that Wisconsin holds 60 percent of 247's predictions for Alexander. The two most recent picks, however, do have him going to Ohio State. That said, those are from Ohio State bloggers at Eleven Warriors. We'll just have to stay tuned for this one.
One other potential factor: Georgia commit and three-star athlete (wide receiver/safety) Shaquery Wilson is set to visit Madison Sept. 20. The Badgers recruited Wilson before he ultimately committed to the Bulldogs in July. In order to give him a fair recruitment, but also not overtly force Alexander's hand, there's somewhat of a fine line Wisconsin must walk with both recruits. If Wisconsin can flip Wilson, it'd be the second former Georgia commit they gain in as many years after Krenwick Sanders. As B5Q's Andrew Rosin said in his Wednesday recruiting notebook:
Even if Alexander decides to be some sort of hybrid, Urban Meyer-loving jerk, it doesn't mean the Badgers are out of play in the receiving game. Wilson (3* 2015 Ga. WR, Georgia commit) was offered by Wisconsin in mid-June, Georgia came in a couple of days later with an offer to play wide receiver and earned the commitment. Fair enough. The thing of it is, if he wants to play receiver, Georgia's getting deep in that kind of athlete. Terry Godwin, Van Jefferson, Michael Chigbu and Christian Owens are all four-stars or better at the position. The Bulldogs are also favorites to get a four-star New Orleans athlete in Donte Jackson and running top-two to get suburban Atlanta receiver Darius Slayton.
Ke'Shawn Vaughn growing profile as running back
Andrew also mentioned three-star Nashville (Pearl Cohn), Tennessee, running back Ke'Shawn Vaughn in his latest recruiting notebook. It's not the only time we've discussed Vaughn, who has named a final six of Illinois, Kentucky, Louisville, Purdue, Vanderbilt and Wisconsin. But after seeing his season-opening stats through three weeks -- 26 carries, 735 yards and 10 touchdowns -- the time is right to focus in one him a bit more. Here are his early-season highlights, courtesy of Hudl:
BadgerNation also has another running back name to keep in mind ($) as the Badgers seek someone to pair with Davon Crookshank: Milwaukee (Wauwatosa West) tailback Demaris Purifoy. The 6'2, 185-pound back has yet to receive significant interest from Big Ten schools, though UW cornerbacks coach and in-state recruiting maven Ben Strickland has reached out to him.
One final running backs note: Texas commit and Dallas (South Oak Cliff) prospect Jordan Stevenson is still planning to visit Madison ($) this fall, though no date has been set.
Rashard Causey to Wisconsin?
The last we heard from three-star Fort Lauderdale (St. Thomas Aquinas), Florida, cornerback Rashard Causey, he had elected to visit Madison on Sept. 27 with teammate and fellow UW target Jordan Scarlett. Thursday, 247Sports' Evan Flood announced his Wisconsin Crystal Ball pick for Causey.
The Badgers currently have two cornerback commits for 2015 in South Oak Cliff teammates X'zaviae Ausborne and Takadrae Williams, and a third in Causey would be a good haul for the class. Keep in mind Wisconsin brought in just one cornerback in its last cycle, Derrick Tindal.