Wisconsin Football Staff Impressed by Strength of Badgers Brand

Thirteen. That’s the number of states the Wisconsin football program looted to construct its 2024 recruiting class. 

In total, the Badgers signed 22 recruits, nine of whom were rated four-star prospects according to the composite rankings. That was good enough to net Wisconsin the No. 22 class in the country on National Signing Day, although that number is subject to change. 

That’s tied for the most blue-chip recruits the program has landed in a single recruiting class with the 2021 cycle, where the Wisconsin Badgers brought in eight four-stars and one five-star.

Take a seat and grab a juice… we’re going inside the football offices for (WI)red on National Signing Day 🙌 pic.twitter.com/zldjnX17zz

— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) December 21, 2023

Wisconsin Football 2024 Recruiting Class Illustrates the Brand’s Strength.

Outside of the impressive haul of talent the Wisconsin football team had on paper, Luke Fickell was particularly impressed with the geographical makeup of his first full class.

“I think you see that from 13 different states, and that to me is a bit unique,” Fickell said regarding his group of signees.

UW signed four players from Illinois, three from Wisconsin, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, and one recruit from each of Florida, Minnesota, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Alabama, South Dakota, Hawaii, and Tennessee.

“As I walked in the door here a year ago, I would have said that we’re going to be regionalized in a lot of ways,” Fickell remarked. “We’ll make sure our footprint is in the Big Ten, but then where else does the brand really reach?

“This is my first real kind of go-around, and obviously, last year was short, but to see how strong the brand really is and to stretch over 13 different states, with a lot of really, really good football players, guys we targeted for a long time, I see how strong this brand is.”

At Coach Fickell’s introductory press conference, he talked about building the program’s core from within a 300-mile radius. It’s now clear that the Motion W carries more weight on the recruiting trail than this staff initially thought.

“That’s not to diminish the relationships that a lot of these guys built with these guys, which ultimately is what wins out,” Fickell continued. “But the ability to go across the United States and find the players that we need to be successful in doing the things that we want to do is really, really impressive.”

Wisconsin football put together a strong first recruiting class, and it’s plausible that the program’s brand had something to do with it. I, for one, think they assembled a good group of recruiters who understand the value of building and maintaining relationships. I look forward to seeing how things progress in year two.

Wisconsin Football Coach Greg Scruggs Made Waves as Recruiter

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