Wisconsin basketball recruiting: updates and highlights on commits and targets

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 (or more often since we are in Uncertain Times and there aren’t actual sports going on) 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!

New highlights

• 2023 big man Gus Yalden (De Pere) out of The Asheville (N.C.) School has been blowing up for a couple of weeks now. He now has nearly a dozen offers with dozens more sure to come. There is an awful lot to like about this highlight vido. Yalden has some pretty advanced post moves for a player his age and he is also able to knock down threes with his pretty stroke. There are a number of things that Yalden could work on as well, but he has years to get quicker and stronger. Once he’s evaluated a bit more I’d love to hear how he looks on the defensive side of the ball.

• Recently offered 2021 5-star CG Hunter Sallis (Omaha, Neb.) out of Millard North High School is such a fun player to watch. He’s explosive to the rim, has a quick first step, plays smart and tenacious defense and can create his own shot with ease.

Sallis was just offered by Auburn which pushes his list to 22 schools and he also chose an awesome picture of Charles Barkley and Chuck Person in his announcement. It’s hard to say if the Badgers have a chance with Sallis because they may have come in too late with their offer, but hopefully Chief Recruiting Office Chucky Hepburn can make some inroads with him.

• Speaking of 2021 3-star PG Chucky Hepburn (Bellevue, Neb.) out of Bellevue West High School, he received a bunch of praise for his performance at the Jammin’ in July event in Ames, Iowa over the weekend. First, Ryan James (the 247Sports Minnesota writer) named Hepburn one of the top-five point guards of the event saying:

1) Chucky has some of the quickest hands I have seen. Not only is he quick, but Chucky is also strong. Those hands are so quick to sharply disrupt a dribble that Chucky can attack like a shark and his team is flying the other way. And 2), Hepburn’s ability to create space in clever ways ranks with the best. He uses fakes to shift players as well anybody and then his immediate strike equals points.

Evan Flood went so far as to say he thought Hepburn was a top-15 PG in the country now ($), among other complimentary things.

Hepburn’s defense is so awesome. I love it when the point guard is like a freaking pitbull at the point of attack and Hepburn definitely is one. James, above, and Flood in his paywall post both praised Hepburn for his defense with Flood noting that it would allow him to see the floor early in Madison.

Here’s a full game recap of Hepburn’s Team Factory taking on Howard Pulley and 2022 Wisconsin offer 3-star PG Trejuan Holloman. It seems like the Badgers and Holloman have cooled on each other a bit, but it’s still fun to see two talented floor generals play each other.

• 2022 center Joe Hurlburt (Enderlin, N.D.) also participated in the Jammin’ In July event in Ames. He shows nice passing instincts for a big man and can stroke it from deep. He seems like he’d be a prime redshirt/developmental big for the Badgers who ends up starting and playing well his junior and senior seasons.