The Wisconsin Badgers’ run of commitments for the month of June had one last treat for fans on Tuesday as Brooklyn, N.Y. (Erasmus Hall) athlete Aron Cruickshank committed to UW. As tremendous upside potential goes, Cruickshank is a prospect that you can build a dream on.
The 5’10, 165-pound Cruickshank has the ball in his hands on most every play as Erasmus Hall’s quarterback and as you can see on his Hudl profile, he’s deadly with the ball in his hands in space. You want acceleration? You’ve got it. You want change of direction? You’ve got it. You want that pure, fierce, American speed to get to the corner or over the top and break it open? Cruickshank can do that too.
Also, while he spent most of his time playing quarterback, he’s not a raw piece of clay when it comes to the receiver skill set. At about the 2:20 mark here, he hooks off his route, gets a hand on an overthrown ball, and comes down with a spectacular catch. Under the tutelage of Wisconsin wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore, the skills that Cruickshank has at receiver will come to match the athleticism that he has—and the comparisons to Erasmus Hall alumnus and Carolina Panthers second-round pick Curtis Samuel will only grow in probability of getting achieved.
While the battle for Cruickshank came down to Wisconsin and Penn State, his skill set also garnered him offers from Michigan and Ohio State, among others. This also will quiet the process of any other Wisconsin receiver target in anything other than a contingency plan. The likes of Isaac Guerendo and Julian Major will likely be committing elsewhere due to the Badgers now having Cruickshank joining A.J. Abbott and Taj Mustapha at the position.
For the class of 2018 in general, the last two days look like an answer to how many scholarships the Badgers think they can work with right now. With the commitment of Cruickshank over the possible commitment of Bay Port, Wis., tight end and Monday’s commitment to Iowa, Jack Plumb, the Badgers seem to be working with two scholarship spots. They have two positions of need at nose tackle and cornerback. We are very far away from National Signing Day, and these things obviously change, but right now, the Badgers seem very close to done for the year.