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Wednesday, it's been one year since Gary Andersen became Wisconsin's head coach. And as everything goes, there's a lot that's going well. And as it's the holiday season, we're going to do talk about several recruits and where the Badgers are at with them.
CB Keishawn Richardson
A decision's coming Wednesday. The Badgers are in very good shape here. But that being said, West Virginia's definitely in play. The Mountaineers had the last visit, and Richardson does have family in and around Morgantown. It often happens that the last visit turns the recruit, but if he commits, he'll be an integral piece. Though according to 247 Sports' Evan Flood, it seems as if he's going to be in Morgantown next season.
Well, that was fun while it lasted.
Three-star junior college cornerback Keishawn Richardson has committed to West Virginia. http://t.co/rjUaRv4QtI
— Evan Flood (@Evan_Flood) December 18, 2013
DE Jacob Tuioti-Mariner
The Badgers are simply out here. In fact, this may tie into the fact that they stopped recruiting Joe Keels. Despite all the graduations at linebacker, the Badgers have a lot of talent developing under the chart. Look at it this way: Joe Schobert, Marcus Trotter, Derek Landisch and Vince Biegel may not have the experience, but they definitely have the upside. Throw in Leon Jacobs and another year for Jesse Hayes as a 3-4 outside linebacker? There are six startable linebackers.
OT Frank Ragnow
Like Joe Mixon, Ragnow left Florida State without a commitment. And this actually bodes well for the Badgers' chances. Florida State just Wednesday signed a junior college offensive line recruit in Kareem Are. This gives the Seminoles six offensive linemen for their upcoming class. I know what you're saying: the Badgers have six offensive line commits, as well. But again, the staff strategized well. They grabbed pieces they liked that would be foundational before they reached for a Ragnow or a Kolton Miller. It may be down to us and Minnesota here.
DT Craig Evans
It's entirely possible that Evans just wanted a year to feel like a superstar and go visit some other schools along the way. If so, I don't begrudge him anything. Official visits are probably the only non-annoying part of the recruiting process for the recruit, especially in this day and age. As it is, the official official, please please please let it be final decision will be Jan. 4 in Orlando.
ATH Deiondre Porter
As it stands now, he's the final visitor for this season's recruiting class. And it seems like Porter will be a beneficiary of Wisconsin's lack of depth at cornerback. Not to say that he's going to be a sucker who got in by luck. Far from it. Deiondre, like T.J. Edwards, is a high school spread quarterback, and as he's 6'1 and being recruited by the Badgers, he definitely has the athleticism to be a very strong prospect at corner.
DE Kaleb McGary
Another four-star lineman the Badgers are very much in on. I briefly made mention of him possibly playing on the defensive line. But if he stays as an offensive lineman, he's definitely a strong possibility to be the Badgers' left tackle of the future. He's a little smaller than a Kolton Miller (6'7, 270 pounds to Miller's 6'8, 280), but he has more developed run blocking skill at this juncture. The Badgers have to beat out both Oregon and Washington State at this point, but they just might.
RB Joe Mixon
Flood is reporting that USC hasn't really made a move toward Mixon in the past two weeks since the Steve Sarkisian administration took over in Los Angeles. This was always the place that Mixon really wanted to go. After all, upon hearing word they hired a new coach, USC was in play. As it is, Wisconsin's got 17 days to wait for a decision. But it'll be in it to the end.
WR Jamil Kamara
He had his big visit to Charlottesville, Va., this week. Gary Andersen joined Chris Beatty at Kamara's home a couple of days after. Otherwise, nothing's seemed to change here. We seem to lead, but then again, there are 17 days to wait.
DE Uriah Leiataua
I know what I said about the Badgers being out on linebackers. But the difference here is that Leiataua, like Ola Tolutau, is going to go on a mission for the next two years. The Badgers are definitely recruiting him hard. And considering he's visited Stanford without a commitment, don't be surprised if the Badgers get the Compton Dominguez product to bolster their future.
