Wisconsin football recruiting: a pair of top of the board prospects are closing in on a decision

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 target sets commitment date

• After officially announcing his top-three schools recently, 2023 3-star OT Joe Crocker (Nashville) will make his commitment decision on July 18. Besides the Badgers, Crocker is considering Mississippi State and Michigan State. He officially visited all three schools in June and Wisconsin is still listed as the favorite to land him on 247 Sports and On3.

Badgers make top-three for blue chip LB

• While it was always assumed that these were his top-three schools, 2023 4-star OLB Tackett Curtis (Many, La.) announced that a trio of Big Ten powers, Wisconsin, USC and Ohio State, will be the ones he’s considering moving forward. Most recruitnik types believe that it will come down to the Buckeyes and Badgers though. OSU is leading in predictions on 247 Sports and On3, but Wisconsin is still right there by all accounts.

UW misses on top remaining TE prospect

• 2023 3-star TE Zach Ortwerth (St. Louis) committed to Iowa on Monday, picking the Hawkeyes over Wisconsin, Minnesota and Pitt. This leaves UW with an empty board at tight end for the 2023 class as all six players they’ve offered at the position have committed elsewhere, with three going to rival Big Ten schools. Presumably we’ll see another offer go out at the position (they’ve only extended one in the 2024 class so far) as depth at tight end is important for an offense like Wisconsin’s.

The Hawkeyes have been hot on the recruiting trail recently, also earning a commitment from one of the top players in the country, 5-star OT Kaydn Proctor (Des Moines, Iowa). The 6-foot-6 and 318 pound lineman is rated as the No. 5 player in the whole country by the On3 Consensus and the No. 10 player in the nation by the 247 Composite.

Weirdly, Wisconsin never offered Proctor, who held offers from Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Texas, LSU, USC, Oregon, Tennessee, Oklahoma and, well, you get the point.