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Recruiting is the lifeblood of any major college athletics team, but following it closely as a fan can sometimes be difficult and can often be time consuming. We’ll try and condense all the recruiting news you can use into this bi-weekly post. It’ll include updates on current commits, including stats from their high school games, as well as news on players the Badgers are still pursuing. Let’s get down to business!
Football offers
- The Badgers handed out a couple of football offers over the past week. The most recent one is to 2021 3-star WR Titus Mokiao-Atimalala of James Campbell High School (Ewa Beach, Hawaii).
247 Sports has him rated as the No. 60 WR in the class and the No. 3 player in the state of Hawaii. Mokiao-Atimalala has offers from Cal, Michigan, Hawaii, Oregon State and Utah to go along with his Badgers offer.
After a great conversation I am blessed to have received a full ride scholarship to the University of Wisconsin THANK YOU JESUS @UWcoachnokes @BadgerFootball pic.twitter.com/kQvLlVMa2d
— Titus Mokiao-Atimalala (@TITUS_ATIMALALA) November 21, 2019
The Badgers have one commit for the 2020 class from Hawaii, 4-star LB Nick Herbig, who will probably be instrumental in the future recruitment of Mokiao-Atimalala as the transition from the islands to Madison is, well, a difficult one.
A top Class of 2021 WR makes a commitment
— Polynesian Bowl (@polynesiabowl) October 2, 2019
TITUS MOKIAO-ATIMALALA (@TITUS_ATIMALALA) has been selected as a POLYNESIAN BOWL ALL-STAR! #PolyBowl2k21 #Hawaiian #Samoan@BrandonHuffman @bangulo @GregBiggins @billyhull @HawaiiPrepWorld @RobDeMelloKHON @bhiga12 @FootballRecruit pic.twitter.com/AHInIN7y3m
The junior wideout caught 58 passes for 1,079 yards and 16 scores while also contributing five interceptions (three returned for scores) on the defensive side of the ball. Mokiao-Atimalala shows good instincts and ball skills on defense, including winning a few jump balls, which should translate to offense as well.
When asked to run routes, and not just run by people which he is capable of doing, they look crisper than most high schoolers. He’ll still have things to polish but there is a high baseline of talent here.
Check out my regular season highlights STATS; 58 REC 1079 REC YARDS 16 TD 23 TCKL 1 TFL 1 SACK 5 INT 2 FF 1 FR 3 PICKSIX https://t.co/5m6p8Aft8h
— Titus Mokiao-Atimalala (@TITUS_ATIMALALA) October 26, 2019
- The first player that Wisconsin offered this week is 2021 4-star DE Cade Denhoff out of Lakeland Christian High School (Lakeland, Fla.). Denhoff is rated as the No. 137 player in the country by the 247 Composite. 247 Sports is particularly high on him, rating him as the No. 47 player in the land.
The 6-foot-5 and 225 pound DE has offers from just about every good team out there. Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, LSU, Penn State, Nebraska and Virginia are the ones who are highest on his list. But Michigan, Notre Dame, Florida, Florida State, Miami (Fla.), Louisville, UCF and a whole host of other schools have also offered him.
Truly blessed to say I've received an offer from the University of Wisconsin!!! Go Badgers!!! #RecruitPolk @coachd_dub @joneal39 @OBallcoach @H2_Recruiting @DaRealMarc @CoachAprilUW @BadgerFootball pic.twitter.com/T6BKqnFild
— Cade Denhoff (@cade_denhoff) November 21, 2019
Wisconsin will have to do a lot of work to get their name near the top of his list, but for a player this talented it is worth it. What I, a known brilliant talent evaluator, noticed from his junior year tape is how quick off the line of scrimmage he is. He’s also relentless, often fighting through multiple block attempts before making a tackle.
I don’t think the Badgers will sign him, but he is the caliber of player that Wisconsin will need to continue to offer and eventually sign if they want to take the next step as a program.
More football commits win awards
- It is award season and the state of Wisconsin has been handing them out this past week. There were a number of senior class awards that were given out and all of them, except one, went to a Wisconsin commit.
Shout out the badger boys @barten_ben @chimdk11 @JackNelson755 @JackVanDyke15 and @amaunwilliams1 on winning their respective senior awards, well deserved!
— Cade McDonald (@CadeMcDonald5) November 20, 2019
Here are the tweets, with corresponding articles about the award that I won’t bother reciting for you.
Thanks for everybody’s support! #OnWisconsin https://t.co/u9EBmYG7Um
— Jack Nelson (@JackNelson755) November 20, 2019
Milwaukee Riverside's Amaun Williams selected to receive Jim Leonhard Award #wisfb -- https://t.co/k8aaFTm6JP pic.twitter.com/cr8p8M7FyO
— Travis Wilson (@travisWSN) November 20, 2019
Obviously, Davis is coming to Wisconsin to play basketball but the Badgers have had pretty good luck with former quarterbacks so this is nice to see.
Johnny Davis selected to receive Dave Krieg Award #wisfb -- https://t.co/olKCUZZlnM pic.twitter.com/5mhXCl5wl4
— Travis Wilson (@travisWSN) November 20, 2019
Ben Barten of Stratford selected to receive Tim Krumrie Award #wisfb -- https://t.co/SQafLdZSjH pic.twitter.com/O4wpcVkFRt
— Travis Wilson (@travisWSN) November 20, 2019
honored to be selected for this reward. thank you to everyone who voted, and my coaches/teammates for making this a reality. https://t.co/Uyr3iQJZJ8
— Chimere Dike (@chimdk11) November 20, 2019
Neenah's Jack Van Dyke selected to receive Kevin Stemke Award #wisfb -- https://t.co/sRWde7tBcu pic.twitter.com/fytG1QqC2G
— Travis Wilson (@travisWSN) November 20, 2019
- The Badgers lone commit from Illinois made the all-state team. Congrats, Dylan Barrett!
Congratulations to the 8A IHSFCA All State Football Team! pic.twitter.com/BgebDtXRYm
— IHSFCA (@IHSFCA1) November 20, 2019
Wisconsin high school basketball preseason all-state announced
- With high school football coming to an end, it is time to get excited for high school hoops season to start! Mark Miller released his preseason all-state teams and there are future Badgers on two of the three teams.
Preseason All-State in WI Basketball Yearbook for WIAA Division 1 schools ...
— Mark Miller (@WisBBYearbook) November 19, 2019
Patrick Baldwin Jr., 6-9, Jr., Sussex Hamilton
Dalton Banks, 6-2, Sr., Eau Claire North
Carter Gilmore, 6-7, Sr., Arrowhead
Max Klesmit, 6-3, Sr., Neenah
David Joplin, 6-6, Jr., Brookfield Central
The more I read about Carter Gilmore, who accepted a PWO offer to come to Madison, the more I think the Badgers are getting an absolute steal.
Preseason All-State in WI Basketball Yearbook for WIAA Division 2 schools ...
— Mark Miller (@WisBBYearbook) November 19, 2019
Cade Meyer, 6-8, Jr., Monroe
Alex Huibregtse, 6-3, Sr., Grafton
Cam Palesse, 6-4, Jr., Waukesha West
Jordan Davis, 6-4, Sr., La Crosse Central
Johnny Davis, 6-5, Sr., La Crosse Central
The Davis twins are on the Division 2 list as well as Monroe’s Cade Meyer, a bouncy wing, who doesn’t have a Wisconsin offer yet, but would probably accept one if Greg Gard gives it to him.
Preseason All-State in WI Basketball Yearbook for WIAA Division 3 schools ...
— Mark Miller (@WisBBYearbook) November 20, 2019
Tyrese Hunter, 6-1, Jr., St. Catherine
Parker Nielsen, 6-3, Sr., Prescott
Reed Gunnink, 6-4, Sr., Laconia
Brandin Podziemski, 6-4, Jr., St. John's Military
Alex Antetokounmpo, 6-7, Sr., Dominican
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s younger brother Alex will look to have a big senior year and potentially get some high major offers, which he doesn’t have yet.
Football visitors for Purdue game
- 2022 4-star S Braelon Allen (Fond du Lac) is coming back to Madison for the third time this year. There is much speculation that he will receive an offer before he leaves town. Right now, Allen is being recruited hard by the Badgers, Iowa and Notre Dame.
Madison pt. 3 this Saturday ⚪️
— Braelon Allen (@BraelonAllen) November 20, 2019
- 2021 5-star OT Nolan Rucci (Lititz, Pa.) will be in Madison for the Purdue game as well. He is the younger brother of current Wisconsin tight end Hayden Rucci and a highly sought after talent. His top-four, it would appear, are Wisconsin, Michigan, Notre Dame and Penn State, with the Nittany Lions seeming to be the team to beat.
Coming back to Camp Randall #OnWisconsin @haydenrucci pic.twitter.com/jy00eg5K9G
— Nolan Rucci (@nolanrucci) November 22, 2019
- The only other visitor I could find is unranked 2021 LB Ahmad Walker (Warner Robins, Ga.). He has offers from Akron and Charlotte but schools like South Carolina and Georgia Tech are also interested.
Wisconsin showing love ❗️ can’t wait to get there this weekend after a great game tomorrow ❗️@CoachWHerring @CoachKhalif @BadgerFootball pic.twitter.com/YCvIZzakJV
— Ahmad walker (@AhmadWalker7) November 21, 2019