Wisconsin recruiting: a few more updates before Early Signing Day and some hoops highlights

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!

The Badgers have been hot on the trail for the class of 2021, getting two recent verbal commits over the weekend. However, most of the attention right now is being paid to the class of 2020 which can start signing their national letters of intent on Wednesday. Here are some brief updates on a few players.

• 2020 4-star LB Nick Herbig (Honolulu, Hawaii) was named the best defensive player in the state and after watching his highlights I completely agree. If the Badgers get 2020 4-star LB Kaden Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn.), and that’s a big if as many signs are pointing towards Nebraska, this could be one of the best linebacker recruiting classes in the country.

• 2020 3-star LB Malik Reed (Chandler, Ariz.) had a great season for the Wolves and, it would appear, so did a good number of his teammates. I think he and Herbig could form a special duo for the Badgers in the future.

In-home visits

• 2020 4-star OT Jack Nelson (Stoughton) got one of the last in-home visits from coach Chryst since, you know, Stoughton isn’t very far away from Madison.

Some quick notes on the 2021 class

• The Badgers are in some pretty exclusive, early company with their 2021 class. Those are some traditional recruiting powerhouses and it is nice to see the Badgers join their ranks in anything recruiting related.

• The Badgers have almost built an impenetrable wall around the state when it comes to football recruiting. It is worth noting that in-state recruiting IS important in football, as opposed to basketball where things are much more amorphous on where a team’s “home region” may be. For instance, you could argue that Wisconsin’s “home region” for basketball recruiting includes the Twin Cities, but that’s not what we are here to talk about.

It is nice to see Paul Chryst and co. have 80% of the top-five Wisconsinites locked up for the 2021 class already. Hopefully Hunter Wohler will join the party, but his recruitment should be a battle.

Twin brothers doing dunks

• That’s it. That’s the headline.

Hoops recruits looking good early in the season

• 2021 4-star PF Chris Hodges (Schaumburg, Ill.) has been impressing folks early this year. He could be another player that Wisconsin was in on early who turns out to be better than everyone thought. Maybe he could become a Ryan Evans/Charles Thomas combo but with a more advanced offensive game.