The advantage of being in a situation where you have a small recruiting class to work with is that when you find that one prospect who’s the apple of your eye, the process from offer to commitment can move quickly if the interest is mutual.
For the Wisconsin Badgers, Donte Burton, a three-star cornerback from Loganville, Ga., just proved to be the right prospect to finish their class of 2018.
Announcing his verbal commitment to the Badgers on Sunday, Burton comes in with a solid athletic base. Hovering around 6’0 and a shade over 170 pounds, he’s got the speed to go step for step with the receivers he faces. Granted, his laser-timed 40-yard dash at the 2017 Opening regional in Atlanta was 4.62 seconds, but with a shuttle time of 4.19 seconds, he’s not going to be toasted by double moves or someone getting a half-step on him over the top.
For 2018, cornerback is going to be an interesting proposition for the Badgers. Sure, they already have Alexander Smith and Travian Blaylock coming in as freshmen. But with Derrick Tindal and Lubern Figaro graduating and redshirt freshman Dontye Carriere-Williams as the nickel corner, the situation for playing time next season is potentially going to be quite fluid.
If anybody’s going to step up and take a spot, the guy with offers from Colorado, North Carolina, Oregon, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia among others, as well as enough mutual interest with Notre Dame that the Fighting Irish led the 247Sports Crystal Ball count, is definitely a strong place for a first look.