:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45570664/usa-today-7481455.0.jpg)
Way back in June, the Wisconsin Badgers had a very strange Friday. They received two commitments from cornerbacks from the same high school... in Texas! First Takadrae Williams and then X'zavien Ausborne chose Wisconsin as the place they wanted to play college football.
On Wednesday, however, the duo from South Oak Cliff (Dallas) High School, have announced that they will be reopening their recruitment just one week before National Signing Day.
BREAKING: Dallas South Oak Cliff three-star cornerbacks X'zavien Ausborne and Takadrae Williams have de-committed from #Badgers. More coming
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) January 28, 2015
A source also told Evan Flood of 247Sports.com that Williams "would not have qualified [academically] at Wisconsin regardless."
Both corners are ranked as three-stars by 247Sports' composite rankings and now leave the Badgers with zero cornerback recruits in the 2015 class. When Gary Andersen left for the coaching job at Oregon State, the Badgers cut off most communication with the Dallas duo. After new coach Paul Chryst did not retain safeties coach Bill Busch, the writing was on the wall for Williams and Ausborne. The cornerback position has been losing commits left and right with the coaching change, as T.J. Griffin also decommitted this month.
On Monday, defensive tackle commit Elu Aydon also flipped to Oregon State.
"Basically the departure of (Busch) made X'zavien and Takadrae decide to look at other options," Dallas South Oak Cliff defensive coordinator R.J. Bond told Badger Nation, via the Wisconsin State Journal. "He was the one who really recruited those guys. Once Busch left, I knew they probably were going to look around to find another spot."
Ausborne had a football offer from Louisville and a track offer from Ole Miss before committing to the Badgers, while Williams also boasted a Louisville offer and had Colorado State on his radar.
Teammate Jordan Stevenson is scheduled to make his college decision on Signing Day, and is down to the Badgers and Oklahoma State. He is expected to pick Wisconsin, which would be nice for the Badgers' brand since it'll be a highly-regarded prospect picking UW on national TV.
Wisconsin's 2015 class sits at 23 commits and will be looking to add a few more players before next Tuesday.