Superlatives for the Wisconsin Football 2024 Recruiting Class

Early Signing Day has come and gone and Wisconsin football head coach Luke Fickell and his coaching staff have added 22 players to the Badgers’ 2024 recruiting class.

The reviews from the class have been positive overall. They added some great players and attacked positions of weakness.

According to 247Sports, the Badgers have the 23rd-ranked recruiting class, not including transfers. They added nine 4-star players and 13 3-star players. Their average player rating was 89.13, which was also 23rd in the country.

This class is the second-highest class ever for the Wisconsin football program in the internet recruiting rankings era. Only the 2021 class (16th nationally) ranks higher.

Despite the up-and-down first year under Fickell, the expectations and excitement for this program are high.

So let’s take a look at the Wisconsin football superlatives for the 2024 recruiting class.

Wisconsin Football 2024 Recruiting Class Superlatives

Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell (left) greets Wisconsin Badgers defensive Coordinator Mike Tressel after Fickell spoke to the media during Wisconsin Badgers football media day at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023.

Biggest Impact: Darrion Dupree

Composite 4-star running back Darrion Dupree was at the top of the Badgers’ recruiting board from the start. He is the perfect running back for Phil Longo and the offense at Wisconsin. He is a threat both on the ground and in the passing game.

It wouldn’t surprise me if we see him on the field right away as a freshman, but with Chez Mellusi coming back for one more year, Dupree will be able to take a year to learn the offense and watch Mellusi in the offense.

3-4 years is a long way away, but Dupree could very well be the best player to come out of this class.

Biggest Steal: Omillio Agard

Omillio Agard is one of the top players in this class, even though recruiting sites seemed to have cooled on him. On 247Sports, Agard had a grade of 0.9868 (5-star) in the composite rankings going back to March 2022. Since then, it’s been a steady decline down to 0.8973 today (low 4-star).

But he plays for one of the top teams in not only Pennsylvania but the country. St. Joe’s Prep finished as the seventh-ranked team in the country, according to MaxPreps, and Agard is a big part of that. He’s also an Adidas All-American and was named to MaxPrep’s All-American First Team. Accolades on accolades.

He racked up over 30 Division 1 offers from some of the biggest programs in the country and he chose to come to Wisconsin.

Historically, players like Agard wouldn’t have even considered the Badgers. Things are changing under Fickell and his staff, but I would consider signing Agard one of the biggest steals in this class.

Most Underrated: Raphael Dunn

Raphael Dunn is a player that no one really talks about in this class. He is a 3-star safety out of New Jersey with just 10 Division 1 offers. The offers mostly came from Big Ten and SEC schools, but he also got a handful of offers from Ivy League schools. He picked the Badgers over Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Illinois, and Michigan St.

He is listed at 6-4 and 20 pounds, which is pretty big for a safety. But it’s been well-documented that this staff has been trying to get bigger players in their secondary. Dunn certainly fits that.

But Dunn is also expected to play in the ‘Dollar’ position. The position Hunter Wohler played this season where he racked up 113 total tackles, a sack, and two interceptions.

Dunn’s size and athleticism will allow him to play in the box as Wohler did, but also to play in coverage at the safety position.

I’m not saying Dunn will be able to replicate Wohler’s production this year, but if he can play that position successfully, the Badgers got quite the prospect that many teams overlooked.

Diamond in the Rough: Thomas Heiberger

Like Dunn, linebacker Thomas Heiberger was not a highly-touted prospect. When he committed to the Wisconsin football team in April, he had an overall grade of 87 (3-star).

Since he committed, Heiberger has been on the rise. Today, 247Sports has him as a 4-star prospect with a 90 grade. He is the top-ranked player in South Dakota and 475th-ranked player nationally and 30th at his position, according to the 247Sports composite.

He may not be highly ranked, but I think Heiberger has a chance to make an impact early for the defense of the Wisconsin football team.

Biggest Recruiting Win: Xavier Lucas

Xavier Lucas is the perfect example of ‘your loss is my gain.’

As a Florida native, it’s not at all surprising that his dream school was Florida State. If the Seminoles wanted Lucas, they could have gotten him easily. The problem was, that the top safety in the country, KJ Bolden, was committed to Florida State along with some more highly touted defensive backs. Lucas wasn’t necessarily a take for the Seminoles.

So he committed to Wisconsin, but it never felt like he was a sure thing for the Badgers. Lucas even took an official visit to Miami a couple of weeks ago.

When National Signing Day came around, there were some questions about whether he’d sign with Wisconsin or Miami. Luckily for the Badgers, he signed with Wisconsin.

The Badgers were also pretty lucky that Lucas signed when he did. Shortly after he sent in his letter of intent, Bolden flipped from the Seminoles to Georgia.

Lucas may very well have stuck with the Badgers anyway, but the Badgers got a great player from Florida who easily could have gone elsewhere. Big win for the Badgers.

Biggest Surprise: Ernest Willor Jr.

Ernest Willor Jr. is not the type of player Wisconsin football fans are used to the Badgers signing. Willor is a top-120 player, according to the 247Sports composite. He’s the no. 17 defensive linemen in the country.

Willor’s name started coming up a little more frequently for the Badgers in the past couple of weeks, but otherwise, there hasn’t been much of a connection to him for most of the recruiting cycle.

Not only is it big for the Badgers to snag a player this highly rated, but it’s at a position where they are extremely thin. The Badgers were already light on defensive linemen for most of the season, but then Rodas Johnson entered the transfer portal. That forced the Badgers to make some adjustments, like moving an outside linebacker to the defensive line for the upcoming bowl game.

Early playing time could have been a draw for Willor to come to Wisconsin. With the team being as thin as they are at the position, he will have plenty of chances to earn some playing time right away in Madison.

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