Wisconsin football recruiting: updated rankings heading into spring

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 (sometimes more) 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 rankings

• Rivals updated their 2022 Rivals250 rankings earlier this week and there are an awful lot of players that the Badgers have offered in there. First, let’s take a look at all of them:

No. 9, 5-star DT, Travis Shaw, Greensboro, N.C.
No. 24, 4-star SDE, Caden Curry, Greenwood, Ind., down five spots
No. 42, 4-star ATH, Brenen Thompson, Spearman, Texas, down 15 spots
No. 44, 4-star RB, Gavin Sawchuk, Highlands Ranch, Colo., down three spots
No. 58, 4-star OT, Joe Brunner, Whitefish Bay, down seven spots
No. 64, 4-star DT, Khurtiss Perry, Montgomery, Ala., down six spots
No. 82, 4-star C, Carson Hinzman, Hammond, down five spots
No. 84, 4-star S, Xavier Nwankpa, Pleasant Hill, Iowa, down five spots
No. 101, 4-star CB, Keenan Nelson, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa., down four spots
No. 109, 4-star OLB, Sebastian Cheeks, Evanston, Ill., down four spots
No. 114, 4-star OL/DL, Billy Schrauth, Fond du Lac, down one spot
No. 126, 4-star RB, Nicholas Singleton, Shillington, Pa., down four spots
No. 129, 4-star RB, Omarion Hampton, Clayton, N.C., down four spots
No. 137, 4-star WR, Darrius Clemons, Portland, Ore., down six spots
No. 141, 4-star ILB, Joshua Burnham, Traverse City, Mich., up four spots
No. 172, 4-star DT, Alex VanSumeren, Essexville, Mich., up 10 spots
No. 180, 4-star RB, Gi’Bran Payne, Cincinnati, Ohio, down 23 spots
No. 208, 4-star RB, Michael Allen, Greenville, N.C., down 20 spots
No. 223, 4-star EDGE, Teva Tafiti, Honolulu, Hawaii, down 23 spots
No. 233, 4-star DT, Curtis Neal, Cornelius, N.C., down 24 spots
No. 242, 4-star S, Cristian Driver, Argyle, Texas, down 21 spots

Now, there are obviously levels to this. Not all of these players are seriously considering Wisconsin, for instance the top player on the list, Travis Shaw, probably hasn’t given the UW offer a second look since it was made and No. 223 Teva Tafiti just announced a cut-down list that didn’t include the Badgers.

However, there are plenty of players on here that are seriously considering Wisconsin, all of the in-state kids for example and No. 109 Sebastian Cheeks as well.

• And here is the 247Sports’ rankings update with players the Badgers have offered:

No. 14, 4-star S, Xavier Nwankpa, Altoona, Iowa, up 23 spots
No. 29, 4-star DT, Khurtiss Perry, Montgomery, Ala., up 13 spots
No. 34, 4-star DT, Travis Shaw, Greensboro, N.C., down three spots
No. 42, 4-star RB, Nicholas Singleton, Reading, Pa., up 46 spots
No. 44, 4-star RB, Gavin Sawchuk, Littleton, Colo., down one spot
No. 77, 4-star OT, Joe Brunner, Whitefish Bay, down one spot
No. 85, 4-star OLB, Joshua Burnham, Traverse City, Mich., down two spots
No. 105, 4-star DT, Caden Curry, Greenwood, Ind., up five spots
No. 126, 4-star CB, Keenan Nelson, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa., down 55 spots
No. 130, 4-star WR, Darrius Clemons, Portland, Ore., down two spots
No. 142, 4-star OLB, Sebastian Cheeks, Evanston, Ill., down five spots
No. 149, 4-star RB, Omarion Hampton, Clayton, N.C., down 16 spots
No. 151, 4-star RB, Gi’Bran Payne, Cincinnati, Ohio, down 31 spots
No. 159, 4-star RB, Michael Allen, Greenville, N.C., down 18 spots
No. 163, 4-star OL/DL, Billy Schrauth, Fond du Lac, down 18 spots
No. 166, 4-star ATH, Brenen Thompson, Spearman, Texas, down 17 spots
No. 167, 4-star OG Carson Hinzman, Hammond, down 17 spots
No. 177, 4-star SDE, Isaac Hamm, Sun Prairie, down 10 spots
No. 224, 4-star DT, Alex VanSumeren, Essexville, Mich., up six spots
No. 240, 4-star S, Cristian Driver, Argyle, Texas, down six spots
No. 243, 4-star ATH, Dillon Tatum, West Bloomfield, Mich., down 22 spots
No. 246. 4-star EDGE, Teva Tafiti, Honolulu, Hawaii, down seven spots

There are some definite differences in the two recruiting services in terms of who they rank highly. For instance, Xavier Nwankpa is ranked 70 spots higher by 247 Sports than Rivals while Rivals has Carson Hinzman ranked 85 spots higher than 247 Sports.

Again, we will have more insights on these players as they pare their lists, but for an overarching view on offers, this is a good place to start.