Plus: some transfer portal news for both football and men’s basketball.
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!
New offers
- 2023 4-star CB Jayvon Thomas (Dallas) out of South Oak Cliff High School, which should be a familiar school to those of you who follow recruiting closely, received an offer from Wisconsin on Friday, according to his coach. Thomas has offers from nearly 20 schools, including: Baylor, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Southern Cal, Texas and Utah.
Shout out to South Oak Cliff 2023DB (Agent #0) Jayvon Thomas for picking up an offer from Wisconsin! #SOCNATION @SOCGoldenBearFB @SOCFootball1 @CoachWarden @Coach_j1s @JayvonThomas10 pic.twitter.com/8AhqayjwRT
— Coach Traylor (@coach_traylor) December 3, 2021
Thomas stands at 5-foot-11 and weighs 170 pounds. He is rated as the No. 133 player and No. 11 cornerback in the country by the 247 Composite and he is also listed as the No. 25 player in Texas. Thomas also plays RB and is a dynamic return man for South Oak Cliff.
He looks like a good defensive back, but I’d recruit him just to return kicks even if he stunk at playing corner! He is fast, agile and tough to bring down.
- 2023 4-star EDGE Bai Jobe (Norma, Okla.) out of Community Christian High School also earned an offer from Wisconsin this week. Currently, Jobe has 13 offers from schools like Arkansas, Baylor, Iowa State, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Pitt and others.
Extremely thankful to receive another Power 5 Offer From BIG10 Wisconsin Badgers @coachKolodziej@mcintosh_mat @brandondrumm247 @seancooper_c4 pic.twitter.com/BEyAfH9PHm
— Bj (@22_bmj) December 2, 2021
Jobe is 6-foot-4 and weighs 215 pounds and is rated as the No. 192 player and No. 16 EDGE player in the country by the 247 Composite. They also have him listed as the No. 4 player in Oklahoma, although 247’s standalone rankings think he’s the top player in the state. According to his profile page, Jobe recorded 56 tackles and 16.5 sacks this season which is…pretty incredible.
It is difficult to tell on his Hudl tape if Jobe is recording all of these sacks because teams forget to block him or if he is just so fast off the line of scrimmage that he shoots the gaps before the o-lineman can get to him. Like, he is just running, unencumbered, at the quarterback on so many of the plays! It’s crazy. If he can fill out his frame without sacrificing his quickness, he will be a very good player at the next level.
- 2023 4-star TE Andrew Rappleyea (Milton, Mass.) out of Milton Academy received an offer from the Badgers on Thursday. Rappleyea has over 20 offers including some from the likes of Boston College, Louisville, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
After a great conversation with @CoachTurnerUW I’m very grateful to have received an offer from The University Of Wisconsin‼️ ⚪️ @BadgerFootball #OnWisconsin #Badgers @BrianDohn247 @coachkeevins @MA_Fball pic.twitter.com/RgUzTooTMQ
— Andrew Rappleyea (@andrewrappleyea) December 2, 2021
Standing at 6-foot-4 and weighing around 215 pounds, Rappleyea is rated as the No. 330 player and No. 19 tight end in the whole country by the 247 Composite. He is also the No. 5 player in Massachusetts. In his junior season, he had 21 receptions for 475 yards and four touchdowns.
His Hudl tape shows that Milton spreads him out wide a lot and sends him on deep routes as well. He has soft hands, is athletic, has a little wiggle after the catch and is also a punishing blocker. He seems like a pretty ideal Wisconsin tight end and it’ll be interesting to see where his recruitment goes from here.
Future Badgers winning awards
- 3-star 2022 QB Myles Burkett (Franklin) was named AP Wisconsin Player of the Year on Thursday. After leading Franklin to a state title, Burkett is scheduled to sign with the Badgers as their only QB recruit in the upcoming class. He completed 206 of 289 passes for 3,427 yards, 36 touchdowns and four interceptions this season.
Blessings https://t.co/HJlWZlKaVn
— Myles Burkett (@myles_burkett) December 2, 2021
A number of other UW commits and hopefully future commits also made the first and second teams.
Former Badgers finding new homes
- Former Wisconsin WR Devin Chandler is heading back closer to his North Carolina home and will be continuing his football career at Virginia. Good luck, Devin!
Proud to announce my commitment to the University of Virginia #Gohoos ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/DQqh2dNJL6
— Devin Chandler5️⃣ (@devinkchandler) December 2, 2021
Basketball transfer portal news
- Former 4-star recruit James Graham III (Milwaukee) announced that he was leaving Maryland and he would be entering the transfer portal on Thursday. I thought this was strange timing and then on Friday afternoon Maryland announced that they were “mutually parting ways” with head coach Mark Turgeon, and Graham’s decision makes a lot more sense.
— James Graham III (@JamesGrahamIII2) December 2, 2021
I don’t know if the Badgers will take another look at Graham, but I’d say it’s unlikely that he ends up in cardinal and white next year.