New month should start with a bang
The summer months of June and July yielded 10 verbal commitments for Wisconsin — 11 if you count four-star defensive back Craig Watts. And while the activity will likely turn down just a bit with the start of fall camp, the month should open with a big recruiting bang.
According to a few sources, Wisconsin will receive a commitment from four-star athlete A.J. Taylor on Aug. 1. More accurately, his pledge will become public on that day, as we’ve been told his decision had already been delivered to the coaching staff.
The eventual addition of Taylor, a 5.9 four-star prospect, will give UW its highest-rated recruit in the 2016 class, one tick ahead of four-star running back Antonio Williams (5.8). The Kansas City standout has offers from Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern and Vanderbilt, among others.
Taylor, who was recruited by position coach Ted Gilmore, could be used in a variety of ways on offense. Much of his junior film is at running back, but Taylor will likely work primarily as a slot receiver who moves all over the field. The way he projects into the offense could shed some light on Demari Simpkins, who we’ll discuss later.
Recruiting heats up for hoops
Despite Wisconsin’s offer to 2017 wing Kobe King, and despite Wisconsin’s recent interest in 2016 in-state guard Te’Jon Lucas, 2016 point guard JaQuori McLaughlin is still very interested in Wisconsin, as are the Badgers in him.
“No change on our side,” JaQuori’s father, Jason, said via text message on Friday evening. “Still getting really good feedback from the Badger staff as well.”
McLaughlin was waiting to see how much attention the Wisconsin coaching staff paid to him during the July evaluation periods before he went ahead and scheduled an official visit for the fall. With Wisconsin being present in one fashion or another for all three weeks, McLaughlin is expected to lock down a date to visit this fall sometime after he returns home from Las Vegas.
With an offer to King, Wisconsin, we’re told, is out in front for the three-star prospect from La Crosse. Despite the transition within the coaching staff, King is still very high on the school and everything UW offers. He comes from the same AAU program as Sam Dekker and Bronson Koenig, among other former Badgers.
In the 2015 class, we reported that Andy van Vliet has been admitted to UW. That news should become public through the university as early as Monday, which is also van Vliet’s 20th birthday.
Summer workouts
The Badgers are coming down the final stretch of summer workouts, which are essentially once-a-week practices for two hours. The players obviously spend more than two hours in the gym during the week, but, per NCAA rules, the coaching staff is only allowed to be a part of workouts for a total of two hours per week.
A source who has been at nearly every workout this summer — both with and without the coaching staff — gave BadgerBlitz.com a rundown of how things were going so far. The notes are below:
There have been a handful of players who have had some sort of injury hold them out of at least one organized session. Zak Showalter (ankle), Jordan Hill (ankle), Riley Dearring (thigh) and Aaron Moesch (undisclosed) have all missed time. Showalter is the only one whose injury required (and still does) a walking boot.
Freshman Alex Illikainen has performed well so far. He has been knocking down his shot with relative consistency, and has shown a high basketball IQ on the floor.
Freshman Khalil Iverson is an absolute freak athlete with a strong build. There was one time during a 2-on-1 drill when Iverson got the ball on the block just outside of the painted area and did a series of pump-fakes to get the defender out of the way before Iverson took off (with both feet planted) and threw down a two-handed jam. There was another time after practice in which Iverson had the ball on the right side of the free-throw line in a triple-threat position, took one dribble and a large step, and then took off for a one-handed slam while putting the ball between his legs in the air. As for his offensive game as a whole, he is still raw.
Freshman Brevin Pritzl has performed as expected offensively, but has been getting picked apart defensively.
Redshirt freshman Ethan Happ has worked tirelessly on his shooting form — with the help of Gary Close. He is beginning to extend his range to the three-point line, but his shot around the elbow area has become much more consistent.
(G)Rand visit
A visit to Wisconsin made sense this week for four-star defensive tackle Garrett Rand, who made the trip from Arizona for a family reunion in Stevens Point. When the dust settled, the Badgers became a serious contender in his recruitment, so much so that UW may very well lead heading into August.
Rand told a few people during the visit that Wisconsin is now his top school. On the record, he told BadgerBlitz.com that, “the Wisconsin visit really blew me out of the water. After that visit I really need to reevaluate things. It really gave me a lot to think about.”
We’re told that Rand does not want to rush into a decision and is leaning toward taking official visits before discussing a potential commitment. And while UW will almost certainly get an official, that stretch of time could allow some other schools to enter his recruitment. One, in particular, being Stanford, which has yet to offer. A scholarship from the Cardinal is one that Rand has been working towards and could shake up his recruitment.
More on Simpkins
We’re told that Wisconsin really pushed to get a commitment from Simpkins during his visit this week. We’ve said for a while that the staff wants two true receivers — one slot and one vertical, outside threat. With Taylor seemingly in the mix, he may be viewed as an “offensive athlete” with Simpkins moving to the top option at the slot.
Simpkins’ decided to hold off on a commitment in large because of his desire to take some official visits. Utah is likely the Badgers’ top threat at this point. At the same time, we wouldn’t rule out a decision in favor of Wisconsin in the next few weeks.
Remaining targets
The coaching staff has given the current commits small lists of kids to work on. From talking with a few pledges, the following names continue to pop up, in no specific order.
1) USF commit Armunz Mathews, a projected cornerback.
2) Florida commit Aaron Robinson, a projected cornerback.
3) Four-star Eric Burrell, a projected defensive back.
4) Lil’Jordan Humphrey, who has already visited and is likely the top “vertical” receiver option.
5) Garrett Rand.
6) Three-star cornerback A.J. Green.
Mathews, in particular, has received a good amount of “attention” over social media recently. He’s commitment to USF is very soft at this point, and the three-star prospect is expected to take all five official visits.
The summer months of June and July yielded 10 verbal commitments for Wisconsin — 11 if you count four-star defensive back Craig Watts. And while the activity will likely turn down just a bit with the start of fall camp, the month should open with a big recruiting bang.
According to a few sources, Wisconsin will receive a commitment from four-star athlete A.J. Taylor on Aug. 1. More accurately, his pledge will become public on that day, as we’ve been told his decision had already been delivered to the coaching staff.
The eventual addition of Taylor, a 5.9 four-star prospect, will give UW its highest-rated recruit in the 2016 class, one tick ahead of four-star running back Antonio Williams (5.8). The Kansas City standout has offers from Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern and Vanderbilt, among others.
Taylor, who was recruited by position coach Ted Gilmore, could be used in a variety of ways on offense. Much of his junior film is at running back, but Taylor will likely work primarily as a slot receiver who moves all over the field. The way he projects into the offense could shed some light on Demari Simpkins, who we’ll discuss later.
Recruiting heats up for hoops
Despite Wisconsin’s offer to 2017 wing Kobe King, and despite Wisconsin’s recent interest in 2016 in-state guard Te’Jon Lucas, 2016 point guard JaQuori McLaughlin is still very interested in Wisconsin, as are the Badgers in him.
“No change on our side,” JaQuori’s father, Jason, said via text message on Friday evening. “Still getting really good feedback from the Badger staff as well.”
McLaughlin was waiting to see how much attention the Wisconsin coaching staff paid to him during the July evaluation periods before he went ahead and scheduled an official visit for the fall. With Wisconsin being present in one fashion or another for all three weeks, McLaughlin is expected to lock down a date to visit this fall sometime after he returns home from Las Vegas.
With an offer to King, Wisconsin, we’re told, is out in front for the three-star prospect from La Crosse. Despite the transition within the coaching staff, King is still very high on the school and everything UW offers. He comes from the same AAU program as Sam Dekker and Bronson Koenig, among other former Badgers.
In the 2015 class, we reported that Andy van Vliet has been admitted to UW. That news should become public through the university as early as Monday, which is also van Vliet’s 20th birthday.
Summer workouts
The Badgers are coming down the final stretch of summer workouts, which are essentially once-a-week practices for two hours. The players obviously spend more than two hours in the gym during the week, but, per NCAA rules, the coaching staff is only allowed to be a part of workouts for a total of two hours per week.
A source who has been at nearly every workout this summer — both with and without the coaching staff — gave BadgerBlitz.com a rundown of how things were going so far. The notes are below:
There have been a handful of players who have had some sort of injury hold them out of at least one organized session. Zak Showalter (ankle), Jordan Hill (ankle), Riley Dearring (thigh) and Aaron Moesch (undisclosed) have all missed time. Showalter is the only one whose injury required (and still does) a walking boot.
Freshman Alex Illikainen has performed well so far. He has been knocking down his shot with relative consistency, and has shown a high basketball IQ on the floor.
Freshman Khalil Iverson is an absolute freak athlete with a strong build. There was one time during a 2-on-1 drill when Iverson got the ball on the block just outside of the painted area and did a series of pump-fakes to get the defender out of the way before Iverson took off (with both feet planted) and threw down a two-handed jam. There was another time after practice in which Iverson had the ball on the right side of the free-throw line in a triple-threat position, took one dribble and a large step, and then took off for a one-handed slam while putting the ball between his legs in the air. As for his offensive game as a whole, he is still raw.
Freshman Brevin Pritzl has performed as expected offensively, but has been getting picked apart defensively.
Redshirt freshman Ethan Happ has worked tirelessly on his shooting form — with the help of Gary Close. He is beginning to extend his range to the three-point line, but his shot around the elbow area has become much more consistent.
(G)Rand visit
A visit to Wisconsin made sense this week for four-star defensive tackle Garrett Rand, who made the trip from Arizona for a family reunion in Stevens Point. When the dust settled, the Badgers became a serious contender in his recruitment, so much so that UW may very well lead heading into August.
Rand told a few people during the visit that Wisconsin is now his top school. On the record, he told BadgerBlitz.com that, “the Wisconsin visit really blew me out of the water. After that visit I really need to reevaluate things. It really gave me a lot to think about.”
We’re told that Rand does not want to rush into a decision and is leaning toward taking official visits before discussing a potential commitment. And while UW will almost certainly get an official, that stretch of time could allow some other schools to enter his recruitment. One, in particular, being Stanford, which has yet to offer. A scholarship from the Cardinal is one that Rand has been working towards and could shake up his recruitment.
More on Simpkins
We’re told that Wisconsin really pushed to get a commitment from Simpkins during his visit this week. We’ve said for a while that the staff wants two true receivers — one slot and one vertical, outside threat. With Taylor seemingly in the mix, he may be viewed as an “offensive athlete” with Simpkins moving to the top option at the slot.
Simpkins’ decided to hold off on a commitment in large because of his desire to take some official visits. Utah is likely the Badgers’ top threat at this point. At the same time, we wouldn’t rule out a decision in favor of Wisconsin in the next few weeks.
Remaining targets
The coaching staff has given the current commits small lists of kids to work on. From talking with a few pledges, the following names continue to pop up, in no specific order.
1) USF commit Armunz Mathews, a projected cornerback.
2) Florida commit Aaron Robinson, a projected cornerback.
3) Four-star Eric Burrell, a projected defensive back.
4) Lil’Jordan Humphrey, who has already visited and is likely the top “vertical” receiver option.
5) Garrett Rand.
6) Three-star cornerback A.J. Green.
Mathews, in particular, has received a good amount of “attention” over social media recently. He’s commitment to USF is very soft at this point, and the three-star prospect is expected to take all five official visits.
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