Wisconsin basketball recruiting: UW misses out on 5-star cut list and contacts some 2022 prospects

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!

Badgers miss out on cut list

• 2021 5-star CG Hunter Sallis (Omaha, Neb.) of Millard North High School announced his top-12 list on Sunday and the Wisconsin Badgers were on the outside looking in. If you can’t see the embedded tweet, his list included: Kentucky, Michigan, Oregon, Gonzaga, UNC, Auburn, Iowa State, Alabama, Creighton, Kansas, Louisville and UCLA.

You can tell that the UK offer was a big deal to Sallis, because he only received it two days before including them in his cut down list. Some reports have the Zags as the leader for Sallis, but it looks like his commitment is still an open race as he has zero Crystal Ball predictions on 247.

Sallis has a close relationship with Wisconsin PG commit Chucky Hepburn (Bellevue, Neb.) and there was some thought that Hepburn could convince him to at least visit Madison but with there still being concerns on if campus visits will be allowed this fall, Wisconsin didn’t have enough else that interested Sallis to keep them in the race.

Wisconsin staying in contact with 2022 prospects

• According to Endless Motor Sports, the Badgers have been keeping in contact with a pair of 2022 4-star prospects over the past week. SG Jaden Schutt (Yorkville, Ill.) is a hot commodity among just about every Big Ten school and the Badgers have been checking in with the sharp-shooting guard every week. While his recruitment hasn’t had any cut downs lists yet, Illinois and Michigan State are two schools that may be separating themselves from the pack.

4-star PF Tyler Nickel (Elkton, Va.) doesn’t have an offer from the Badgers yet but he has been hearing from UW over the last week. The 6-foot-8 prospect is ranked No. 64 in the 247Composite and has a dozen offers already. Iowa, LSU, N.C. State and Wake Forest are some of the notable offers that Nickel holds.