Two-school race for Brad Davison?
Senior combo guard Brad Davison, one of the top uncommitted prospects in the 2017 class, is essentially down to two schools – well, more accurately, one program with the door slightly ajar for another — according to a source close to his recruitment.
As expected, one of them is Wisconsin, which received Davison’s most recent unofficial visit. But the other isn’t Stanford, Davison’s lone official thus far. And it isn’t Michigan, the university that generated quite a bit of buzz after a recent trip/offer.
The Badgers, as of right now, need to hold off a late push from Minnesota, which extended a scholarship Thursday.
Here’s what we’re being told: Davison has notified people close to him that he’s ready to commit to Wisconsin. UW was likely his leader since Greg Gard offered in early June and the Badgers are an ideal fit both on and off the court. Basically, Wisconsin checks off all his boxes and the fact that Gard was in contact since Davison started high school made a lasting impression.
Now, the offer from the Gophers, we’re told, doesn’t change a whole lot. But Davison is expected to give his home-state school a fair shake, according to a source. This is protocol, though, for Davison, who has done his homework on every school that has extended a scholarship.
Davison grew up watching Minnesota and currently has season tickets to the home games at Williams Arena. There’s a draw to playing for the Gophers and while nothing is scheduled yet, Davison could make an easy visit to campus in between tournaments this month. But even if that were to happen, the same source believes Davison ultimately ends up at Wisconsin, and sources close to Gard and his staff feel very confident about wrapping up this recruitment.
The offer from Minnesota – mainly the timing – is certainly curious. The Gophers essentially missed a party going on in their own backyard and then tried to sneak in at the 11th hour. We’re told that Richard Pitino and his staff had no idea how Davison would react to the offer and put feelers out to those close to him in the hours leading up to it. They could have easily been laughed at, but Davison, just from my experience, is as humble and considerate as any recruit I’ve talked to over the past 10 years.
The other wildcard for Davison was Duke, which was sniffing around this spring and into the summer. But we’re told the Blue Devils didn’t pay much attention to Davison this week, other than assistant coach Jeff Capel being spotted at one of his games. Duke feels very good about five-star (2018) Tre Jones, who is likely its guard of the future.
So a quick recap: Davison telling people close to him that he’s set on Wisconsin. Will give Minnesota a serious look but is ultimately expected to pick the Badgers some time before Aug. 1.
Football staff expected to host three big visitors this month
When the calendar switches to July 11 in a few days, the world of college football recruiting turns from a “dead” to “quiet” period. With that, Paul Chryst is working to get a trio of visitors on campus: one commit, one top remaining target in 2017 and a future quarterback.
Wide receiver Cade Green wasn’t able to make it to the Badgers camp in June that featured a number of fellow commits in the 2017 class due to a high school football commitment in Texas. Because of that, the three-star prospect is finalizing a visit this month and he’s hoping to have 2018 quarterback Jack Tuttle and 2017 wide receiver Oliver Martin there with him.
A four-star prospect from California, Tuttle picked up an offer from the Badgers after Green made sure the staff took a look at his film. The two played Pop Warner football together in San Diego and have stayed in contact ever since.
As for Martin, who is drawing national attention at the moment during competition at The Opening Finals in Oregon, he and Green played together in an Eastbay All-American game in the 7th grade. Similarly, the two have kept in touch and have bounced into each other at various football camps over the past few years.
Martin has blown up since Wisconsin offered after a strong camp performance. But even with his recent wave of attention – Iowa, Oregon, Minnesota, Indiana and Michigan State have all extended scholarships – we’re being that UW is right in the thick of it, if not at the top of Martin’s list.
I wrote at length about Martin’s freakish athletic ability, which runs in the family. But here’s some further proof:
There’s a long way to go with Tuttle, but if the Badgers can get him on campus this month they could position themselves favorably early in the process.
Notes from the NY2LA Next Level Invitational
I was able to attend the Next Level Invitational on Wednesday and Thursday and here’s a quick Wisconsin-related recap.
*Assistant coach Howard Moore represented the Badgers on both days.
*Moore watched 2018 in-state guard Greg Foster Jr. for about one half of basketball Wednesday evening. He then moved over to sit in front of 2017 wing Terrence Lewis’ game, but there’s no serious interest from Wisconsin in him.
*Carlos Curtis, a 2018 point guard who camped well in Madison last month, did not play with Wisconsin United for its first game Thursday.
*Moore checked on 2019 big man Nobal Days on Thursday as UW continues to move forward in his evaluation process.
*Moore watched 2017 commit Kobe King play both days. The standout from the Wisconsin Playground Warriors (3-0 so far at this event) was on fire Wednesday but had a quieter performance the following day.
*Moore is expected to move on to Chicago this weekend to watch some younger talent in that area.
Gard, who was watching Davison at the Peach Jam Friday night, and his staff were scattered in other locations from Wednesday to Friday watching Nathan Reuvers, Tyler Herro, Joey Hauser, Parker Stewart, Jordan McCabe and a handful of other targets.
New names always surface during the evaluation period and we’re told one prospect in the 2017 class who caught Gard’s eye was Jermaine Samuels. The 6-foot-6 small forward plays for Expressions Elite (MA) on the EYBL circuit. He lists offers from Villanova, Boston College, UConn, Pittsburgh and Tennessee, among others.
Next week’s NY2LA Summer Jam has a loaded field and BadgerBlitz.com will have coverage from that event.
Latest on Ke’Shan Pennamon
Remember when I wrote close to a year ago that Ke’Shan Pennamon had some academic issues to clear up.
Well, those apparently never really went away as the 2016 signee announced he would attend a prep school in South Carolina this fall.
According to a Wisconsin source, “If he (Pennamon) can get into school in January, as of now, we will take him.” The staff has clearly saw enough from the three-star prospect from Florida to continue to take chances on him. But we’ll see where the two sides are in January. It certainly wouldn’t be shocking if Pennamon never made it to Madison.
Odds and ends
*Jake Ferguson also competed in the Opening Finals and, among other things, dunked a basketball. He also had a very nice SPARQ score.
*Bronson Koenig is taking part in the Under Armour All-America Basketball Camp.
*Expect the Badgers to host a group of potential walk-ons this month as well.
Senior combo guard Brad Davison, one of the top uncommitted prospects in the 2017 class, is essentially down to two schools – well, more accurately, one program with the door slightly ajar for another — according to a source close to his recruitment.
As expected, one of them is Wisconsin, which received Davison’s most recent unofficial visit. But the other isn’t Stanford, Davison’s lone official thus far. And it isn’t Michigan, the university that generated quite a bit of buzz after a recent trip/offer.
The Badgers, as of right now, need to hold off a late push from Minnesota, which extended a scholarship Thursday.
Here’s what we’re being told: Davison has notified people close to him that he’s ready to commit to Wisconsin. UW was likely his leader since Greg Gard offered in early June and the Badgers are an ideal fit both on and off the court. Basically, Wisconsin checks off all his boxes and the fact that Gard was in contact since Davison started high school made a lasting impression.
Now, the offer from the Gophers, we’re told, doesn’t change a whole lot. But Davison is expected to give his home-state school a fair shake, according to a source. This is protocol, though, for Davison, who has done his homework on every school that has extended a scholarship.
Davison grew up watching Minnesota and currently has season tickets to the home games at Williams Arena. There’s a draw to playing for the Gophers and while nothing is scheduled yet, Davison could make an easy visit to campus in between tournaments this month. But even if that were to happen, the same source believes Davison ultimately ends up at Wisconsin, and sources close to Gard and his staff feel very confident about wrapping up this recruitment.
The offer from Minnesota – mainly the timing – is certainly curious. The Gophers essentially missed a party going on in their own backyard and then tried to sneak in at the 11th hour. We’re told that Richard Pitino and his staff had no idea how Davison would react to the offer and put feelers out to those close to him in the hours leading up to it. They could have easily been laughed at, but Davison, just from my experience, is as humble and considerate as any recruit I’ve talked to over the past 10 years.
The other wildcard for Davison was Duke, which was sniffing around this spring and into the summer. But we’re told the Blue Devils didn’t pay much attention to Davison this week, other than assistant coach Jeff Capel being spotted at one of his games. Duke feels very good about five-star (2018) Tre Jones, who is likely its guard of the future.
So a quick recap: Davison telling people close to him that he’s set on Wisconsin. Will give Minnesota a serious look but is ultimately expected to pick the Badgers some time before Aug. 1.
Football staff expected to host three big visitors this month
When the calendar switches to July 11 in a few days, the world of college football recruiting turns from a “dead” to “quiet” period. With that, Paul Chryst is working to get a trio of visitors on campus: one commit, one top remaining target in 2017 and a future quarterback.
Wide receiver Cade Green wasn’t able to make it to the Badgers camp in June that featured a number of fellow commits in the 2017 class due to a high school football commitment in Texas. Because of that, the three-star prospect is finalizing a visit this month and he’s hoping to have 2018 quarterback Jack Tuttle and 2017 wide receiver Oliver Martin there with him.
A four-star prospect from California, Tuttle picked up an offer from the Badgers after Green made sure the staff took a look at his film. The two played Pop Warner football together in San Diego and have stayed in contact ever since.
As for Martin, who is drawing national attention at the moment during competition at The Opening Finals in Oregon, he and Green played together in an Eastbay All-American game in the 7th grade. Similarly, the two have kept in touch and have bounced into each other at various football camps over the past few years.
Martin has blown up since Wisconsin offered after a strong camp performance. But even with his recent wave of attention – Iowa, Oregon, Minnesota, Indiana and Michigan State have all extended scholarships – we’re being that UW is right in the thick of it, if not at the top of Martin’s list.
I wrote at length about Martin’s freakish athletic ability, which runs in the family. But here’s some further proof:
There’s a long way to go with Tuttle, but if the Badgers can get him on campus this month they could position themselves favorably early in the process.
Notes from the NY2LA Next Level Invitational
I was able to attend the Next Level Invitational on Wednesday and Thursday and here’s a quick Wisconsin-related recap.
*Assistant coach Howard Moore represented the Badgers on both days.
*Moore watched 2018 in-state guard Greg Foster Jr. for about one half of basketball Wednesday evening. He then moved over to sit in front of 2017 wing Terrence Lewis’ game, but there’s no serious interest from Wisconsin in him.
*Carlos Curtis, a 2018 point guard who camped well in Madison last month, did not play with Wisconsin United for its first game Thursday.
*Moore checked on 2019 big man Nobal Days on Thursday as UW continues to move forward in his evaluation process.
*Moore watched 2017 commit Kobe King play both days. The standout from the Wisconsin Playground Warriors (3-0 so far at this event) was on fire Wednesday but had a quieter performance the following day.
*Moore is expected to move on to Chicago this weekend to watch some younger talent in that area.
Gard, who was watching Davison at the Peach Jam Friday night, and his staff were scattered in other locations from Wednesday to Friday watching Nathan Reuvers, Tyler Herro, Joey Hauser, Parker Stewart, Jordan McCabe and a handful of other targets.
New names always surface during the evaluation period and we’re told one prospect in the 2017 class who caught Gard’s eye was Jermaine Samuels. The 6-foot-6 small forward plays for Expressions Elite (MA) on the EYBL circuit. He lists offers from Villanova, Boston College, UConn, Pittsburgh and Tennessee, among others.
Next week’s NY2LA Summer Jam has a loaded field and BadgerBlitz.com will have coverage from that event.
Latest on Ke’Shan Pennamon
Remember when I wrote close to a year ago that Ke’Shan Pennamon had some academic issues to clear up.
Well, those apparently never really went away as the 2016 signee announced he would attend a prep school in South Carolina this fall.
According to a Wisconsin source, “If he (Pennamon) can get into school in January, as of now, we will take him.” The staff has clearly saw enough from the three-star prospect from Florida to continue to take chances on him. But we’ll see where the two sides are in January. It certainly wouldn’t be shocking if Pennamon never made it to Madison.
Odds and ends
*Jake Ferguson also competed in the Opening Finals and, among other things, dunked a basketball. He also had a very nice SPARQ score.
*Bronson Koenig is taking part in the Under Armour All-America Basketball Camp.
*Expect the Badgers to host a group of potential walk-ons this month as well.
Last edited:
