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Wisconsin basketball recruiting: 2021 3-star PF Markus Ilver commits to UW

The native of Estonia, who is playing his high school ball in Ohio, is the last piece of the 2021 recruiting class for Greg Gard.

By Drew Hamm
NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-First Round-Oregon vs Wisconsin Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Under an hour after we here at this fine site posted a basketball recruiting update that ended with us saying “Wisconsin could still take another player in the 2021 class but there has been very limited action on the recruiting trail for Greg Gard recently and it would appear that they’ll roll the scholarship over to 2022.”

Per usual, we were 100% wrong and the Wisconsin Badgers added the fourth and final member of the 2021 class on Wednesday afternoon! 2021 3-star PF Markus Ilver (Tallin, Estonia) who is playing his senior year at Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio told Evan Flood and 247Sports that he had chosen UW.

Here are some quick notes on Ilver:

  • 6-foot-8
  • 200 pounds
  • 247Composite rankings: No. 196 nationally, No. 38 PF, No. 6 Ohio
  • He held offers from Nebraska, VCU, Xavier, George Mason, Utah and a host of other mid-majors.
  • Listed as a PF on both 247 and Rivals but could definitely play SF too.

Here is what wrote about Ilver back when he was offered in July:

Ilver has some bounce when you watch his highlights (there is a dunk early in the clip below that made me yelp). He also has a quick trigger from three. He’s basically your prototypical modern wing player that can get to the tin and rain threes. His game is quite appealing in that regard and also probably places him closer to the SF side of things than the PF side. He has a quick first step and uses slight pump fakes well to get past his man and get into the lane.

While this may be a simplistic comparison since they’re both European, watching Franz Wagner beat up the Badgers in multiple ways on Tuesday night has me hoping that Ilver can be a similar player. He should, eventually, fill the role that Aleem Ford is currently occupying as a tall, rangy, shot-making wing.

The Badgers now have four commitments in the 2021 class and have moved up to the No. 32 class in the 247Sports Composite rankings. Ilver won’t be able to sign officially until April 14, when the late signing period begins.

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