I have always thought that Wisconsin's greatest advantage was that the quality of the state of Wisconsin's high school football talent was undervalued, not only by the recruiting services (which it still is) but by other BCS schools. For the most part Wisconsin has had the pick of the best instate linemen, linebackers, RBs, WRs, TEs they've wanted, and because the state was so under-recruited they stood a good chance of stealing other instate high schoolers as walk ons. If the choice was Northern Illinois, a school in the Dakotas or getting your folks to pay for UW tuition, Wisconsin could win that war. Lately I notice that other BCS schools have taken note of the talent in the state, even though the recruiting services have not. Heckel is a great case in point. With his offer list, he is clearly at least a 3 star recruit. 10 years ago he would have a few MAC offers, and interest from Wisconsin and Minnesota. He'd be the perfect candidate to walk on. But now it seems like Iowa, Illinois, Michigan State, etc are making real investments in recruiting the state of Wisconsin.
I know all high school kids think they will play in the NFL, but most are probably realistic and realize a degree from a good school matters. So while stealing a walk-on away from North Dakota State is one thing. Stealing the same kid as a walk-on from Northwestern, or Illinois, or Penn State is another.
Also it seems a shame that Kanz and Heckel weren't seniors last year when instate o-line talent was weaker.
I know all high school kids think they will play in the NFL, but most are probably realistic and realize a degree from a good school matters. So while stealing a walk-on away from North Dakota State is one thing. Stealing the same kid as a walk-on from Northwestern, or Illinois, or Penn State is another.
Also it seems a shame that Kanz and Heckel weren't seniors last year when instate o-line talent was weaker.
