Wisconsin recruiting: UW loses out on top 2022 men’s hoops target

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!

Top 2022 men’s basketball target heading elsewhere

• The top remaining player (and one of the top they even offered) on Wisconsin’s 2022 board has decided to go elsewhere. 2022 4-star PF Braden Huff (Carol Stream, Ill.) announced on Monday that he’ll be heading west to play for Mark Few and Gonzaga.

The 6-foot-9 big man had an official visit scheduled to Madison in October that is now off the table. He is ranked as the No. 88 player in the nation by 247Sports and, to be quite frank, he would have been a perfect fit for UW. This is a bummer for Greg Gard and the Badgers.

Wisconsin doesn’t have any other offers out for the 2022 class and currently has one commit, 3-star SG Connor Essegian. It seemed liked Wisconsin was keen on taking a big man in the ‘22 cycle, so it’ll be interesting to see if they continue on the trail and try to find a hidden gem, or bank the scholarship for 2023 and grab two bigs then. You’ll note on our scholarship grid that there isn’t another open spot for 2022, but Carter Gilmore’s spot could be moved back to a walk-on.

New football offer

• 2023 4-star (Rivals only) DT Jordan Hall (Jacksonville, Fla.) out of Westside High School announced over the weekend that he had received an offer from Wisconsin. Hall is closing in on 20 offers including from the likes of Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Ole Miss, Oregon, Virginia Tech, West Virginia and others. While no predictions have been made on either major recruiting site, the Seminoles seem to be the popular pick to be out in front so far.

Hall stands at 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4 and weighs just north of 300 pounds. Rivals has him rated as the No. 224 player in the nation, No. 8 DT in the nation and No. 45 player in the talent-rich state of Florida. On3 Recruits (the new recruiting site started by the same guy who started 247 and Rivals) has him rated as the No. 85 player in the nation. On3 also notes that Hall has 4.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, 15 quarterback hurries and two blocked field goals already this season.

These are his sophomore season highlights and there is a lot to like. For a player his size he is quick and gets into the backfield with ease. It looks like he mostly played as more of a defensive end for his team and if he continues to improve as a pass rusher he could be an ideal 3-4 end for Wisconsin. It sounds like it might be tough to get him out of Florida, but this is the type of player that the Badgers need to start getting to try and take the next step in the Big Ten.