
Plus: 2023 4-star QB Brayden Dorman doesn’t include Wisconsin in his top-five.
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!
Badgers lose out on final 2022 in-state prospect
- On Tuesday evening, in-state 4-star IOL Carson Hinzman (Hammond) announced his college decision on Twitter and, not surprisingly, he picked Ohio State. Wisconsin was one of his final two schools and had been recruiting him hard for years, but the rumblings over the past month or so was that he was leaning towards the Buckeyes.
Ready to get to work!!! pic.twitter.com/EMa1JtTFyP
— Carson Hinzman (@HinzmanCarson) January 4, 2022
So, Wisconsin still has a couple of scholarship slots open in the 2022 class and it is unclear on if they will try and flip a verbally committed player who hasn’t signed yet or dive deeper into the transfer portal to try and fill out their class.
There is a lot of Discourse going on around Hinzman leaving the state and going to an in-conference rival and I just want to weigh in on it because this is the internet, dammit! Losing a 4-star offensive lineman who grew up in Wisconsin is a tough pill to swallow for the Badgers, however…if there is one position where UW can afford to miss out on a blue-chip prospect it is at o-line. Wisconsin has an abundance of blue-chip players waiting in the wings for the o-line and even picked up another one in the 2022 class with Joe Brunner.
They’ll be fine at offensive line for the foreseeable future.
It is a larger bummer that in the vaunted Super Six in-state class of 2022 only half of the players ended up picking Wisconsin.
Allen obviously reclassified to 2021 and is a freshman All-America RB, that’s a big win for the Badgers.
However, only get half of these kids and 1/3 of the offensive linemen stings.
— Bucky’s 5th Quarter (@B5Q) January 4, 2022
Braelon Allen, after reclassifying to the 2021 class and switching positions, has already shown that he is an incredible talent. That’s a big win for Wisconsin as the rest of these guys haven’t even set foot on campus yet and Allen is going to be a preseason All-Big Ten player.
If you remember all the way back when Jerry Cross was committing to Penn State, it didn’t seem like Wisconsin was ever really in the final mix there, so losing out on him isn’t a huge deal. However, losing Schrauth and Hinzman, while not crippling by any means, is still a punch to the gut of Wisconsin and everything they hold dear. Barry Alvarez talked about putting up a fence around the state and not letting in-state kids leave, especially on the lines. Well, two talented ones left the state with one even going to a conference rival.
Two feelings are possible to have here: Wisconsin only getting three out of the six of these players is a failure, but it is not a disaster by any means. Lastly, I don’t know if Joe Rudolph leaving for the Virginia Tech job on Monday caused Hinzman to pick the Buckeyes, but it may have been the final nail in the coffin of him considering Wisconsin.
Badgers miss out on top QB target for 2023
- I’ll be honest with you guys, this one came as a surprise to me. 2023 4-star QB Brayden Dorman (Colorado Springs, Colo.) released his top-five schools last week and Wisconsin was not included.
Top 5️⃣
Thank you to all the schools that have been apart of this process, I am very thankful. These are the schools I will be focusing on moving forward! @rledits24 pic.twitter.com/pwdedtCfpZ
— Brayden Dorman (@brayden_dorman) December 30, 2021
The schools who did make the cut? Arizona, Colorado, Iowa State, Mississippi State and Oregon State. Those, uh, aren’t exactly your Alabamas or Ohio States or Southern Cals…those are schools that Wisconsin should be more attractive than, unless you’re a quarterback I guess.
Dorman was Wisconsin’s top of the board choice at quarterback soooooo now they’re back to square one at the most important position on the team. Here is a quick list of QBs that could be the next one for UW to focus on:
4-star Avery Johnson (Maize, Kan.), 6-foot-2, 170 pounds, holds an offer from Wisconsin
4-star Cameron Edge (Smyrna, Del.), 6-foo-1, 190 pounds, holds an offer from Wisconsin
4-star JJ Kohl (Ankeny, Iowa), 6-foot-6, 227 pounds
4-star Mack Howard (Columbus, Miss.) 6-foot-2, 185 pounds
3-star Drew Viotto (Walled Lake, Mich.), 6-foot-4, 215 pounds
Chase Spellman (Wales), 6-foot-3, 205 pounds
Jerry Kaminski (Sun Prairie), 6-foot-2, 190 pounds
There will surely be a number of players that Chryst and co. kick the tires on, but it’s unfortunate to see a relationship, that looked like it was going pretty great, sour so quickly between Dorman and Wisconsin.