Wisconsin football recruiting: in-home visits, a new offer and transfer portal rumblings

I guess one good thing about not having a game to prepare for is you can be out on the road recruiting.

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!

• Since Wisconsin doesn’t have a Big Ten title game to prepare for, all of their coaches have been out on the road recruiting this week. Here is a quick roundup of the players, both committed and uncommitted, they’ve gone and seen so far.
• 4-star OL Joe Brunner was an obvious choice. He’s from Whitefish Bay and he’s one of the top players in the nation.

• Some of the coaching staff made the trip down to Illinois to check in with 3-star S Austin Brown.

• Paul Chryst is racking up the travel miles this week after also visiting 3-star WR Vinny Anthony in Louisville with wide receiver’s coach Alvis Whitted.

• It has been reported multiple places that 4-star OL Carson Hinzman (Hammond) is welcoming the Ohio State staff (Wednesday) AND the Wisconsin staff (Friday) to his home this week. Hopefully that goes well for UW. With Brian Kelly leaving Notre Dame, a lot people are assuming that 4-star OL Billy Schrauth (Fond du Lac) is definitely coming to Wisconsin. It’s hard to say if that’s true or not because a lot of these recruits develop much closer relationships with their position coaches or coordinators. It’ll be interesting to see how the Irish fill out their coaching staff with early signing day fast approaching.

New offers

• 2022 3-star ATH Koen Entringer (Walled Lake, Mich.) is one of Wisconsin’s top remaining targets to fill out their ‘22 class. He has a Crystal Ball put in for the Badgers, but who knows what an offer from in-state Michigan will do.

• 2023 4-star OT Cayden Green (Lee’s Summit, Mo.) out of Lee’s Summit North High School received an offer from the Badgers earlier this week. Green has dozens of offers already from the likes of Arkansas, Cincinnati, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas A&M and many others. On his 247 Sports profile page, the Sooners and Hawkeyes are listed as his two favorites currently. The departure of OU head coach Lincoln Riley may change all of that, however.

Standing at 6-foot-5 and weighing between 310 and 325 pounds, Green has the size to play offensive line in the Big Ten tomorrow. The 247 Composite has him ranked as the No. 137 player in the country and No. 14 OT while also being the third best player in Missouri.

He is what I would call a “play finisher.” It’s kind of hilarious to watch him just take the defender he is blocking all the way off the screen and out of the play. Green envelops people, which he won’t be able to do at the next level but it’s still good to see him know how to use his size.

I would assume he has some technique stuff to work on because he won’t be able to get by on brute strength alone, but he gets his hands on the pass rusher quickly and is able to use his strong base to simply shove them aside. I hope the Badgers get in on this recruitment because he is a player that I’d love to see mauling people in the Big Ten.

Transfer portal happenings

• One of the top quarterbacks in the 2020 class is back on the market. 4-star signal caller Parker McQuarrie is leaving UCLA and he is a player that the Badgers really wanted. Evan Flood at 247 even put in a Crystal Ball for him to the Badgers. Would definitely be an interesting addition for some added competition in the QB room.

• Another player that the Badgers had high on their list in 2020 was 4-star RB DeaMonte Trayanum out of Akron, Ohio. Trayanum went to Archbishop Hoban, the same school that produced current Badger OLB Daryl Peterson and recent former Badger FB Quan Easterling. The Badgers received an official visit from Trayanum and, if I’m remembering correctly, were in his top-four schools. There is no immediate need at RB, but it never hurts to add more talent.