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Today marks the official end of the 2024 recruiting cycle — meaning the conclusion of Luke Fickell’s first full recruiting cycle as head coach at Wisconsin.
The Badgers’ 2024 group finishes the cycle ranked No. 23 in the nation and No. 7 in the new landscape in the Big Ten — a clear step forward after years of recruiting stagnation under former head coach Paul Chryst.
The group has been known for months. It is headlined by top-100 offensive tackle Kevin Haywood, four-star running back Dilin Jones, four-star interior offensive lineman Emerson Mandell and four-star defensive lineman Ernest Willor. However, this week there was an update worth noting.
Related: Where each Wisconsin Badgers signee finished in final class of 2024 recruiting rankings
That update is linebacker Thomas Heiberger picking up a fourth star on 247Sports.com, giving the Badgers 11 four-star recruits in the class.
That means the 11 blue-chippers of 22 total signees make a 50% blue-chip ratio (the ratio of blue-chip players to the full class).
For those interested in the importance of the ratio, Bud Elliott breaks it down in detail. In short: no team with a full talent composite under the 50% threshold has ever won the National Championship.
Some have come close (TCU in 2022 and Washington in 2023), but none have done it.
Now, does this mean Wisconsin will start competing for National Championships? Likely not. The roster still has a ways ago to even crack the full 50% threshold.
But this was Fickell’s first full cycle in Madison. The group gives promise that better classes could be on the horizon, classes that hopefully begin to perennially crack the nation’s top 15. That would mean a sizable increase of talent on the roster and the possibility that Wisconsin enters the territory Michigan was in last year — which was good enough to win it…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/wisconsin-class-2024-just-crossed-130400471.html
Author : Badgers Wire
Publish date : 2024-02-07 13:04:00
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