Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
An aerial view of Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis.
An aerial view of Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., home of the Wisconsin Badgers.
When offensive tackle Gavin Meier of Janesville Parker committed to the University of Minnesota in late March, it continued a notable trend of top-ranked in-state players choosing to play at schools other than Wisconsin.
The Journal Sentinel’s JR Radcliffe recently wrote about Meier’s commitment for the Class of 2026 and he also chronicled the trend of top recruits choosing to play for programs outside of Wisconsin’s borders.
In our Wisconsin football mailbag this week, several readers asked UW beat reporter Mark Stewart about the trend, and how the Badgers can lock down in-state talent from going elsewhere.
Here is what Mark had to say (note: subscribers can read the full transcript here):
How can Wisconsin lock down in-state talent, or is that overrated?
This was the burning question on the minds of Del, Doug, Dan and Joe Badger. For the sake of background, UW has failed to secure a commitment from the state’s No. 1 recruit, according to Rivals’ lists, for three straight years. The last No. 1 recruit the Badgers signed from the state came in 2023 and was Milwaukee King running back Nate White, who never gained playing time at UW and transferred to South Dakota State after last season.
How can the Badgers change that? Winning always helps. I also think the new offensive scheme will help, too. The strength of Wisconsin high school football from a Power Five recruiting sense has been offensive linemen and the new scheme has the potential to accentuate that position better than the Air Raid did. Another thing to consider is that the UW staff came here without deep ties to the state and those take time to develop.
But even without a huge influx of in-state…
Source link : https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/uw/2025/04/24/some-top-in-state-recruits-choosing-schools-other-than-wisconsin-why/83240129007/
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Publish date : 2025-04-24 13:30:00
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