Wisconsin football recruiting: two new 2023 offers went out on Tuesday

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 offers

• On Tuesday, the Badgers offered a scholarship to 2023 5-star ATH Nyckoles Harbor (Washington, D.C.) out of Archbishop Carroll High School. Harbor has over 20 offers with Maryland, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State and South Carolina appearing to be ahead of the rest of the pack. Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Southern Cal and many others have also offered.

Standing at 6-foot-5 and weighing 225 pounds, Harbor played WR, TE and EDGE for his high school team last season. As a sophomore he ran a 10.38 100 meter dash and 21.36 200 meter. He is ranked as the No. 29 player and No. 3 ATH in the country by the 247 Sports Composite and is also the top ranked player in D.C.

On3 is even higher Harbor with national recruiting analyst Gerry Hamilton saying that he could even be the top player in the ‘23 class. “Look, when you have a prospect that’s 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5, over 220 pounds and has posted 10.38 (100 meters) and 21.3 (200 meters) on the track…with that length – you are dealing with a special athlete,” Hamilton said.

You don’t need to watch too much of his tape to know that, yeah, he’s an impressive athlete. A player that size should not be able to catch a fade over his shoulder, with a defender draped on him and toe tap for a touchdown. It is, quite literally, unguardable. It would appear, however, that Harbor is destined for the defensive side of the ball as an edge rusher. He is quick, strong and causes all sorts of havoc in the backfield.

I’m not sure if Wisconsin thinks they can really get in the race here, but it never hurts to throw your hat in the ring and they do have the defensive stats that should be appealing to top talent.

• Wisconsin also offered 2023 3-star CB Amare Snowden (Roseville, Mich.) out of Roseville High School on Tuesday. Snowden has offers from Arkansas, Cincinnati, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Penn State, Pitt and many others. On3 has the Fighting Irish pegged as the favorite right now, but the Badgers have had some success getting recruits out of Michigan recently.

Snowden is an intriguing 6-foot-3 and 187 pounds and is rated as the No. 419 player and No. 43 CB in the country by the 247 Composite. He is also ranked as the No. 11 player in Michigan. “Their defense is top tier and they are number one on defense and top five in passing,” Snowden told 247’s Allen Trieu ($).

Snowden’s height is obviously a huge advantage as he can blanket smaller receivers. He uses his length well and shows that he can high point the ball (when he’s on offense more so). Getting bigger in the defensive backfield seems to be a goal of Hank Poteat’s and it’ll be interesting to see how recruitments like this play out.

Coaches on the recruiting trail

• The Badgers were down in Chicago visiting schools including Marist, where they may have been checking in on CB John Nestor.

Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard was up in Michigan visiting Saline High School where 2024 4-star QB CJ Carr goes, but you’d have to imagine he was also there to check in on some defensive players too.