Wisconsin Football Puts a Cherry on Top of the 2024 Recruiting Class

The 2024 recruiting class for the Wisconsin football team has been all but wrapped up for a few weeks now. June was an extremely busy month for Luke Fickell, the coaching staff, and the Wisconsin recruiting department. Since June 1, the Badgers have reeled in 13 of their 20 committed payers.

Now they are wrapping up their 2024 class and putting a bow on it with the addition of Xavier Lucas, who announced his commitment to the Badgers on Friday via social media.

Home👐🏾🦡🔴🏠 @CoachFick @BadgerFootball #OnWisconsin @SteezoDsgn pic.twitter.com/GDNinBQlrV

— Xavier Lucas (@XavierL_25) August 11, 2023

Lucas is a defensive back out of American Heritage High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is listed as a safety on many recruiting databases but played cornerback during his junior season in high school.

According to the 247Sports Composite rating, Lucas is a 3-star prospect and the 82nd-ranked safety in the 2024 class. He is the 771st-overall prospect in the class.

What is the Wisconsin football team getting in Xavier Lucas?

As mentioned before, Lucas played cornerback in high school but it sounds like college programs project him to be a safety at the next level. Watching his junior season film on Hudl, you notice a couple of things about him.

First, is his speed. There are multiple plays in his film where an opposing back breaks free and he comes flying in from the other side of the field to make the tackle, saving a touchdown. Speed is one of those things you can’t teach and is extremely valuable, especially in a Power 5 program like Wisconsin.

Next, he’s very aggressive. Granted, with his speed he can afford to be aggressive at the high school level. As a corner, he was consistently on the line pressing the receiver. If he gets beat off the line, his speed would allow him to make that ground back up pretty quickly.

Finally, he can make open-field tackles. There are multiple plays in his film where the offense sets up a receiver screen to his side. Once, he is on the line pressing the receiver. He gets around the block and drops the receiver behind the line for a loss. The next, he is playing off but diagnoses the play and fills the alley, making a sound tackle and allowing just a short gain.

Lucas joins a talented secondary in the 2024 class

With this 3-3-5 defense that Mike Tressel is bringing to Madison, defensive back depth is necessary. They’ve been adding tons of bodies to the room. In fact, Lucas is Wisconsin’s third safety of the class, joining Khamir Prescott and Raphael Dunn. They’ve also added Omilio Agard and Jay Harper at cornerback.

With the addition of Lucas, the Badgers currently have the 23rd-ranked recruiting class in all of college football. That ranking is subject to change. Other teams behind them could add more players, raising their scores. But for now, Luke Fickell and his coaching/recruiting staff have accomplished a lot in this recruiting cycle.

It’s pretty impressive that this coaching staff could come in and put a top-25 recruiting class (for now) together in just about eight months. It’s just another reason why Wisconsin football fans are so excited about the future of this program.

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