UW Recruiting Rundown

[Bernini]

Recruiting Rundown


Wake up Badger football recruitniks!

The college basketball season has long since ended, we're nearing summer, and that means college football recruiting is about to shift into high gear.

Before we look ahead, let's take a glimpse at how the 2009 Badger class has already begun to take shape.

Quality, Just Not Quantity

To this juncture, Wisconsin hasn't secured a plethora of recruits, only 5 in total, but early on most have been highly touted by at least one source or another.

Three of the verbals stemmed from the team's Junior Day event held back in February: DT Jordan Kohout, DE Shelby Harris, and OG Ryan Groy; all from the Dairy State.

Kohout has been lauded by nearly every service who's weighed in. Phil Fritz of PrepStar tabbed him the best defensive tackle in the nation. He was named a member of Rivals' and Scout's top 250 and 300, respectively. ESPN also showed the love, naming him to their Top 150 Watch List.

Harris is no stranger to accolades as a prep. He was named the WFCA Defensive Player of the Year as just a junior. Rivals is a believer his skills from high school will project to the next level, rating him 4 of 5 stars.

Groy, while being the least ballyhooed of the 3, received one of the highest individual rankings. Max Emfinger ranked him one of the top 5 OT's in the nation.

A long lull followed the February bonanza. It wasn't until mid May that the Badger's received their 4th verbal. That's when Chicago area stud signal caller Jon Budmayr, entered the fray.


photo courtesy of Chicago Sun-Times

Back in February, I personally dubbed Budmayr as one of the top 5 UW out of state prospects, regardless of position. Needless to say I was thrilled upon hearing the news of his arrival. Don't be fooled by Budmayr's diminutive stature....he's a baller. CSTV's Tom Lemming and PrepStar's Fritz agree, labeling him one of the top QB's in his class. Lemming went as far to say he was the top player the Badgers have extracted from the Chicago area in at least 10 years. Also, during the Columbus Nike Camp just previous to his commitment, Jon was named its MVP.

Just this week, Wisconsin stole Michigan OL Zac Matthias away from the home state Spartans. Before Lloyd Carr retired from the Wolverines, he was rumored to also covet Matthias.

A solid start to what, at least early on, projects to be a rather small class.

Not Your Ordinary Badger Camp

Mark your calenders, Wisconsin camps will be in session from June 15-17, and then re-convene on the 22nd-24th.

Footballers from all over the state, midwest, and some throughout the nation, will descend upon Madison to prove they're worthy of a UW offer as well as bragging rights over their peers.

Making the competition unusually fierce is the strength of the Wisconsin high school 2009 graduating class. When the '08 class culminated, just 16 players had garnered D1A offers, 14 accepting the challenge. With about 8 months ahead before signing day, camps, combines, and their senior seasons; 12 players in '09 have already induced D1A offers!

Of the in-state class, watch out for these players especially, to be under strong consideration for a coveted Wisconsin offer: DE Clayton Gosse, DT/OL Travis Frederick, TE/DE Justin Juckem, OLB A.J. Klein, MLB/DE Tyler Dippel, and OT Alex Dietzen.

Dippel drew the label of early favorite for top prospect in the state, however his recruitment hasn't lived up to the hype. Schools have been reticent to pull the trigger because of his tweener status. Is he a jumbo MLB or is he a DE? Western Michigan offered him at MLB. Wisconsin will audition him at both positions.

Frederick is a monstrous lineman who has been terrorizing the Rock Valley League for years. He moves well for a man of his girth and envelops opponents with his strength as one would expect. He needs to exhibit at least adequate footwork to be offered, which even he's expressed concerns about.


Clay Gosse: Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Preps

Gosse was a productive member of the ultra competitive Fox Valley Association in '07, who regularly made trips to the opponent's backfield. He accumulated 7 sacks and 16 total TFL's. Possessing nearly ideal size (6-4/240), speed (4.7), and quickness (4.16 SS) also; Gosse might have the least to prove of any of the in state prospects. He could shed his baby fat and get stronger. As is, Clay is already a star shot putter.

Klein also was another extremely productive player from the Fox Valley Association his junior season. He amassed 166 tackles and 11 sacks. In order to procure an offer, he needs to exhibit he has the frame to gain 20 pounds, while still maintaining some of the athleticism that's impressive on film.

Juckem is a versatile, freakish athlete who ran an electronically timed 4.66 40 at 245 pounds. A broken fibula derailed Juckem during his crucial junior season. That hasn't stopped high major Washington State from offering. For Wisconsin to offer he'll need to prove he's fully recovered from the injury and he can translate his measurables to the field.

Dietzen also suffered a serious injury his junior season when he dislocated a kneecap. He needs to prove he's overcome that injury and blow the staff away because he doesn't have the leverage the others have courtesy of a D1A offer. Since the Badgers have been high on Alex for a while, and have shown a propensity to favor mammoth OT's like himself, I like his chances.

In addition there will be a few out of state prospects to keep your eye on, like MI TE Ra'Shede Hageman, FL WR Connor Vernon, and MI RB Hersey Jackson. Hageman is one of the staff's top priorities regardless of position. Vernon is a speedy mid-sized wide receiver from the same school as '08 UW linebacker decommit Brandon Marti. Vernon possesses plus quickness, leaping ability, awareness, reliable hands, and change of direction ability. He's a sleeper who UW will be lucky to have at camp. Hersey Jackson is wrongfully mistaken as a fullback. He runs a 10.8 100-meter dash, and can make sharp cuts for such a big back.

Expect an avalanche of commitments immediately following June's camps, including a few of the aforementioned names, which will near fill Wisconsin's initial allotment quite quickly.

[Heavystarch]

Looks good. My guess is Klein, Dippel, and Juckem come away with offers. These three seem to have the best leverage with current offers. I think Frederick and Zach Anderson will eventually become Badgers, but my guess is maybe they get slow played. Hopefully UW can take advantage of a pretty impressive 09 crop of in-staters.

[Bernini]

Originally Posted by Heavystarch

Looks good. My guess is Klein, Dippel, and Juckem come away with offers. These three seem to have the best leverage with current offers. I think Frederick and Zach Anderson will eventually become Badgers, but my guess is maybe they get slow played. Hopefully UW can take advantage of a pretty impressive 09 crop of in-staters.

Gosse is almost a lock in my opinion. He might be the best in state prospect period, including our first 3 commitments. Give him a couple years in our weight room and he can be a stud. Last year we didn't offer Taylor or Zeitler until later on in the process (post camp?), but I thought they were both clearly better than Konz, and probably Westphal also. It's not a matter of Plan A, B, C yet. It's a matter of which of the in state prospects we have enough information on already. Those we don't we can afford to semi slow play because we're confident they'd choose UW regardless at this point, and we're not exactly competing with numerous programs stationed in this state who we'd need to "beat to the punch".

Klein, Juckem, Gosse, and Frederick are the ones I'm most confident about. Then there's a slight drop-off between them and Dippel and Dietzen. On second thought, Dietzen's kneecap problem is tenuous to me because I can relate. Kneecap injuries can be tricker than ligaments. I haven't built a home in his particular knee so I don't know how it's operating though. In regards to Dippel, I think he's just a player and you should ignore #'s, but we've shown a preference for smaller LB's. At DE the competition is very stiff this class, and we recruited the position superbly last class.

[wibbadger]

Bernini, with only 15 scholarships available this year where do see those distributed by position? My guess would be:

Offense:
QB: 1 (definitely)
RB: 1 (they could get away with not getting one this year, but with PJ probably being gone next year and E. Smith not looking like an elite Big 10 RB (IMO) I don't think BB will skip RB)
FB: 0 (Too much of a luxury with Jones last year and BB's new found interest in the spread)
OL: 2 (All signs point to at least 3, but the numbers don't add up. BB may be already suspending his many outstanding OL offers)
WR: 1 (With only a 1/2 recruit here last year (we don't know if T. Williams will be a Corner or Receiver), you would think at least 2 here, but the numbers don't seem to add up.
TE: 1 (I think 1 is a good bet here. It will be curious to see if BB slow plays his other recruits while he waits on Hageman who could very well miss out on Ohio State because they only have 4 scholarships left)

Defense:
DT: 2 (UW's biggest need, but historically BB doesn't seem to recruit too many because he believe DE's commonly grow into DT's)
DE: 2 (All signs point to 3, but the numbers don't add up IMO. Don't be surprised if Muldoon ends up at UW because again Ohio State only has 4 scholarships left.)
LB: 2 (2 has to be a minimum with JC and DL leaving and I bet BB would love to go for 3, but again the numbers don't add up)
CB: 2 (too many ?'s here to haul in only one)
S: 1 (UW's 2nd biggest need after DT IMO, but based on BB's history I suspect he would prefer any extra DB recruit be a CB. If PJ enters the draft early giving UW 16, I would suspect that extra scholarship would be a safety)

Specialist:
Punters: 0
Kickers: 0 (unless Welch doesn't look like the answer)

Whichever way you cut it, it looks like one of our positions is going to get shortchanged in the 2009 recruiting class.

[Bernini]

Well, at the end I'd estimate we'll have around 20 scholarships, maybe more, to distribute. Hoey's schollie is tenuous with his back problem. I can see one specific 5th year senior to be, who I won't name, that may not be asked back. Hill could declare early as a 4th year junior. And we'll lose a few guys to attrition, i.e.: transfers because their buried on the depth chart, academics, character issues, etc. Plus we'll over-sign by at least one.

Given the 15 scholarships you were working with, I think you did a good job of spreading them out to the right positions for the most part.

Totally agree that our biggest need, by far, is defensive tackle. The tendency of the staff has been to under-recruit DT, so a 1-1 DE-DT ratio could come to fruition. However, with Grimes, Briedis, and maybe Garner as the only under-classmen; we'll still be dangerously thin if we only take two DT's. We loaded up on DE's in the previous class. I think the ratio should be closer to 2-1 DT-DE's. If we take more than 2 DE's, the third better have some projectibility as a DT.

Totally agree that our 2nd biggest need, again by far, is safety. We'll only have 3 scholarship safeties even on the roster (although watch out for Megna + Ewing) following 2009. Valai will be a senior, and I'm not personally high on either Shelton Johnson or Claxton (I like Claxton to an extent, but wouldn't be surprised if he's better suited to be an LB w/ his speed). We couldn't justify only one safety. We'd be thin and have low quality projected starters. We'll take 2 or 3. Watch out for Sanders and Hinkel.

If we are anywhere near 15 scholarships at signing day, I don't think 2 of our recruits can be strictly corners. I disagree when you assert we have a lot of questions. Henry is a stud who should still be around. Goins and Merrill were two of the more impressive players at the spring game. Cromartie and Devin Smith were two of our more high quality commits last cycle. Quality and quantity. I can't see any corners we are really in good shape with right now, either. I expect a low CB total, maybe only one.

I agree that RB is not a necessity. We can probably get away with neglecting the position because we'll still have Brown, Clay, and Smith in 2010. Dex Jones is versatile. Also note that next class is very strong at running back in state w/ studs like Fuller and Settle. We should pick up one definitely for depth if the class expands though.

Add 1 to WR, OL, and TE or LB to accomodate the increase in schollies that I'm projecting.

3-4 DT's
2 DE's
2-3 LB's
1 CB
2-3 S's

1 QB
1 RB
0 FB
3 OL
2 WR
1-2 TE's

Basement total of 18 signees, ceiling of 22.

[wibbadger]

Originally Posted by Bernini

Well, at the end I'd estimate we'll have around 20 scholarships, maybe more, to distribute. Hoey's schollie is tenuous with his back problem. I can see one specific 5th year senior to be, who I won't name, that may not be asked back. Hill could declare early as a 4th year junior. And we'll lose a few guys to attrition, i.e.: transfers because their buried on the depth chart, academics, character issues, etc. Plus we'll over-sign by at least one.

It still seems dangerous IMO to go for 20. That 5th year senior I agree probably won't be back and I think it is a good bet Hill would go because he was interested in this years draft (although an injury could change everything). Do we know for sure that somebody would lose their scholarship (like Hoey) if they can't play due to injury? X. Harris is the only other guy who might not be back because of his family situation and his being buried on the depth cart but if he was that homesick, I don't know why he didn't leave this year. Many of our earlier transfers came from the BA era and now that most of the players are BB recruits I think we're going to see a reduction of transfers.

As for academic losses, I think BB has done a good job of keeping players on track and wouldn't be surprised if we didn't have any academic losses this year. The only guy I'm marginally worried about is Fenelus because of the early rumors he might have difficulty qualifying.

Lastly, I do think BB has to be prepared in case a walk-on earns a scholarship. I think Maragos has a decent chance at one (especially if Carter or Valai get injured which one of them probably will). Menga and Hampton are probably the next most likely candidates but they will be long shots. Ewing (as a safety) and Wanger are IMO UW next best walk-on prospects but their next best chances for a scholarship won't be until 2010.

Totally agree that our biggest need, by far, is defensive tackle. The tendency of the staff has been to under-recruit DT, so a 1-1 DE-DT ratio could come to fruition. However, with Grimes, Briedis, and maybe Garner as the only under-classmen; we'll still be dangerously thin if we only take two DT's. We loaded up on DE's in the previous class. I think the ratio should be closer to 2-1 DT-DE's. If we take more than 2 DE's, the third better have some projectibility as a DT.

For DT's I wouldn't mind seeing larger run-stopping DT's for 1st and 2nd downs which maybe Frederick can fit the bill. The NFL doesn't believe in undersized DT's, so I'm not sure why BB should... Do you know if Craig Drummond as a DE/DT tweener is someone UW has a chance at? It seems the staff was really pursuing him hard and between his academic issues scaring other teams away, UW favorable depth chart, and Madison's regional proximity to Chicago we have a decent shot. I actually wouldn't be shocked if there were no DE scholarships issued after camp because of BB willing to wait for Drummond and Muldoon to decide. It seems if Dippel could put on weight he could be an impressive DT prospect especially 3-5 years down the road as his body develops. Lastly, do you see Dan Moore's old teammate (forgot his name) as a lock to be a Juco commit for the Dline?

Totally agree that our 2nd biggest need, again by far, is safety. We'll only have 3 scholarship safeties even on the roster (although watch out for Megna + Ewing) following 2009. Valai will be a senior, and I'm not personally high on either Shelton Johnson or Claxton (I like Claxton to an extent, but wouldn't be surprised if he's better suited to be an LB w/ his speed). We couldn't justify only one safety. We'd be thin and have low quality projected starters. We'll take 2 or 3. Watch out for Sanders and Hinkel.

I too was a bit concerned Claxton's speed but the staff seems REALLY high on him. They could have been recruiting him as a LB all along. I also agree that our walk-ons could help here. Menga I thought was moved to LB (a big mistake IMO). Is it too late to move him back to safety? Throw in Maragos and Hampton and Walk-ons could be backbone at the safety position.

If we are anywhere near 15 scholarships at signing day, I don't think 2 of our recruits can be strictly corners. I disagree when you assert we have a lot of questions. Henry is a stud who should still be around. Goins and Merrill were two of the more impressive players at the spring game. Cromartie and Devin Smith were two of our more high quality commits last cycle. Quality and quantity. I can't see any corners we are really in good shape with right now, either. I expect a low CB total, maybe only one.

I too like our prospects and actually like Fenelus ahead of Devin Smith . It's just that most haven't proven themselves with game day experience. Because of the spread being all the rage in the Big 10, I see CB as being too much of a need to go only one here. Maybe if E. Smith, S. Johnson, or T.Williams moves to CB and show something we can go only one here.

I agree that RB is not a necessity. We can probably get away with neglecting the position because we'll still have Brown, Clay, and Smith in 2010. Dex Jones is versatile. Also note that next class is very strong at running back in state w/ studs like Fuller and Settle. We should pick up one definitely for depth if the class expands though.

I wouldn't mind UW waiting for a late bloomer which always seems to happen. By fall, the states of Ohio and Michigan could be rich pickings as Ohio State and Michigan run out of scholarships.

At LB, Menga and Claxton could affect the number of recruits here. If I had to bet money, I would bet that AJ Klein will be UW's next verbal based on his having a BCS school offer and there doesn't seem to be a lot of major LB'ers interested in Wisconsin.

[marley26]

First off great work putting this together...it was a great read and very well put together...so with 5 out of the 15 for sure available scholi's left who would be your dream 10...im still putting mine together but i wanted to see what other people thought...hopefully there not all from the state of wisconsin haha

[TroyD92]

Originally Posted by marley26

First off great work putting this together...it was a great read and very well put together...so with 5 out of the 15 for sure available scholi's left who would be your dream 10...im still putting mine together but i wanted to see what other people thought...hopefully there not all from the state of wisconsin haha

well my top 10 would be

10.Keenan Graham-not necessicarily a position of need put to me seems like a player with a huge upside who could play multiple positions.

9.Patrick Ward-is a moster plain and simple and he seems to be high on a lot of peoples lists.

8.Lendell Buckner/Pat Muldoon-I am still holding out hope that we can steal Buckner away from Illinois if not Muldoon would be just fine and will probably grow into a DT

7.Keenan Davis/Kraig Appleton-a tall and elusive reciver that has a huge ceiling

6.Bradley Mcdougal-great talent and lets face it we really dont have much at the safety position should be on top of the recruiting board.

5.Vladimir Emillien-another safety propsect who is a "hitman"

4.Jayron Hosley-we do need morre help in the secondary and he should be able to play both saftey and corner at the next level,also a dynamic returner and would be a huge get out of Florida.

3.Craig Drummond-he is one of the most physically gifted players I have ever seen a huge frame, freakishly athletic and very quick for his size, his work ethic may throw some of the bigger schools off.

2.Clay Goose-Bernie seems to be very high on him I have never seen him play so I will trust Bernie on this.

1.Rasheede Hageman-Ok if you saw the video on his profile you will understand he absolutly dominated his competition, he is very quick for a TE he has great body control and could also project on the defensive side.

[Bernini]

Originally Posted by wibbadger

.......

Players vacate schollies due to injury. DT Terrence Jamison left the team due to his injury.....I don't know if it was willingly or not. Ostrowski was only on schollie through his redshirt junior season I believe. I don't think Duane Smith was on schollie for his allotted years. Every case is dealt with individually I'm sure. Cooper was kicked off the team, Thorson, Freeman, Stanley, etc.; under Bielema's watch. Landingham left early because of being buried on the depth chart, Foster, Royston, etc. I don't think transfers were unique to the Emperor's regime. Then you have players from our '08 class who were shaky academic wise, i.e.: Fenelus, Claxton, Garner (he had a core class issue I believe), etc.; who may not qualify in the first place (they may have already qualified, I'm not privy to that info). You're correct that Bielema has done a good job of keeping his current personnel on the field instead of losing them to academics, but he's taking some chances with his recruiting classes. Last year I made a mock class in August, projected 4-5 extra scholarships to become available, and that ended up being on the money (it was 5). I don't think 5 from June to February is unreasonable. Good point about Maragos stealing a ship though, I think he will. J.J. Watt's probably won't be granted until he's eligible to play in '09.

I agree I'd rather move towards gap plugging, blocker occupying, wide bodied DT's. Frederick would be one, although some project him to the offensive line. His versatility is a key because he could be projected to both positions. We are going after some pluggers like Ricky Harris and Kris Cooke. I don't know if anyone is a lock for a commitment out of state. I do believe we can have Cooke if we want him. But perpetual JUCO's can be a difficult cycle to break. Drummond is a DE who has near maxed out his physical development. He already is rock solid. His academic and character issues give UW more of a chance, because we'd be going out on a limb, still he's unlikely. Dippel adding enough weight to be a DT might be a stretch. If that's the only position we can justify offering him at, I'd pass.

On CB's: It's going to be rare that underclassmen will have proven themselves. Upperclassmen are basically a non-factor when projecting a recruiting class. You just have to forecast strength of positions based on who has shown the most promise. And the young CB's have shown a lot of promise. Good point about the spread, though. With Dick Rodriguez transporting his spread to the Big Ten, Zooker, we definitely are going to need at least 4-5 near starting caliber corners. I predict we'll have 5: Henry, Goins, Cromartie, Merrill, and D. Smith.

Interesting point about pursuing a late bloomer from Michigan or Ohio. Or just how about a guy who OSU didn't have room this season (that could be a late bloomer), unlike the past, because suddenly they're getting pretty much EVERYONE they want (it's rather annoying quite frankly). We can exploit their success ironically.

A lot of pertinent, thought provoking comments in your post.

Originally Posted by marley26

so with 5 out of the 15 for sure available scholi's left who would be your dream 10...im still putting mine together but i wanted to see what other people thought...hopefully there not all from the state of wisconsin haha

Originally Posted by Troy

.......

Troy, that's a really interesting list. Obviously you've been following football recruiting very closely thus far. Some of those prospects will be real uphold battles to secure their services, unfortunately.

My at least marginally plausible remaining class wish list:

TE Ra'Shede Hageman, Minnesota
WR Duwyce Wilson, Indiana
WR Connor Vernon, Florida
MLB Tanner Brock, Texas
OLB Roderick Goodlow, Texas
OLB A.J. Klein, Wisconsin
TE/DE Justin Juckem, Wisconsin
DE Clayton Gosse, Wisconsin
DT/OL Travis Frederick, Wisconsin
DT/OL Ricky Harris, Ohio
OT/OG Chris Watt, Illinois
FS Troy Sanders, South Carolina
S Pat Hinkel, Ohio
RB Hersey Jackson, Michigan/Donald Russell, Florida
CB maybe an in-state sleeper who emerges at camp/DeAndre Boyd, Florida (really tough position to project for me, we aren't on too many and I haven't made it a priority to watch CB videos)

[MikeIsGood]

Took awhile for me to get to this, but it's a good summation of this cycle's recruiting up to now, Bern. Session one has come and passed, with session two on the way.

Like others, I like Hageman a lot. I hope he ends up being in the cards for us. But I also like what I have seen and heard of Juckem, and it wouldn't surprise me for them to only take one. We still have Beckum, Grahm, they seem to like Kendricks quite a bit, and then last cycle's recruits as well. Hope there's room...