Big Ten Roundup (Oct. 13): Wisconsin Recruiting 2025 3-Star, New Northwestern Stadium Approved

Coach Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin Badgers hosted Jovan Clark for a second visit, as Clark is a three-star safety in the class of 2025. In other news, Northwestern had its proposal for a new football stadium approved by the Evanston Land Use Commission.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — One thing no one ever doubted for coach Luke Fickell is that he would be able to recruit at Wisconsin. If he could build up College Football Playoff level talent at Cincinnati, then he could do it in Madison.

One of those high-level talents could be Jovan Clark, a three-star safety in the class of 2025. Clark made his second visit to Wisconsin's campus last Saturday when the Badgers defeated Rutgers 24-13. 

In other Big Ten West news, Northwestern had its proposal for a new football stadium approved by the Evanston Land Use Commission. It's hard to remember given everything that happened with the Northwestern football program the last few months, but at the start of the year, the drama over whether this stadium would get the green light had the front stage. 

Here's everything you need to know in today's Big Ten Roundup:

Wisconsin and 2025 3-Star Jovan Clark

Clark had visited Madison once before, but decided to take a second trip down after his first experience came last year, before coach Fickell was in charge. 

The 2025 three-star has 17 scholarship offers from other schools besides Wisconsin, including offers from Georgia, Louisville and Maryland. 

#Badgers looking to 2025 three-star to fill "Dollar" position

(via @RohanChakrav) | @__JC23 https://t.co/rUuWJ7EptT

— Bucky’s 5th Quarter (@B5Q) October 12, 2023

“It’s been good. Been building a relationship with Coach Mitchell and Coach Tressel,” Clark said in a story for Bucky's 5th Quarter, describing his visit to Wisconsin. “They just been telling me where they see me playing at, and they can’t wait to see my Junior tape.”

Wisconsin currently has two football commits in the class of 2025, according to 247 Sports. Those two would be Remington Moss and Landyn Locke, both three-star prospects themselves, and like Clark, Moss is a safety. 

Update on New Northwestern Stadium

The proposal for a new Ryan Field that began under former Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald has been approved. However, the Evanston Land Use Commission that approved the building of the new Ryan Field did not approve it being rezoned for commercial use. 

Thus, a new Ryan Field could only be used for athletic and academic events by Northwestern, and specifically, it could not be used for concerts. 

After hours of deliberation across three meetings, the Evanston Land Use Commission finally voted Wednesday night.

The Commission approved of Northwestern’s Ryan Field proposal but, crucially, did not endorse rezoning for concerts.https://t.co/n0xozzieSH

— Inside NU (@insidenu) October 12, 2023

It's important to note that these are only recommendations made by the Commission. Everything still has to be decided upon by the Evanston City Council, which can accept, deny or modify what the Land Use Commission recommends to them. 

Currently, Northwestern plans to begin the demolition of the old Ryan Field at the end of the 2023 football season. The hope would be for construction to take the length of two seasons, and that come 2026, Northwestern would have a new Ryan Field to play at. The current version of Ryan Field has stood for nearly 100 years, as it was first built in 1926.

Related Stories on Big Ten:

• DYLAN HARPER RECRUITING UPDATE: 2024 five-star prospect Dylan Harper told a reporter on Saturday that he is planning to take an official visit to Rutgers next weekend, while coach Brad Underwood and the Fighting Illini hosted a visit for a prospect in the class of 2025 — Phoenix Gill — who is the son of Illinois basketball legend Kendall Gill. CLICK HERE
• BIG TEN POWER RANKINGS, WEEK 6: Here's where all 14 Big Ten football teams stand in the HoosiersNow.com conference power rankings following Week 6 of the 2023 college football season. CLICK HERE
• WEEK 6 SATURDAY B1G GAME RESULTS: Nine Big Ten football teams played games on Saturday during Week 6 of the college football season. From Ohio State's comeback win over Maryland, to Purdue nearly stealing one from Iowa in Kinnick, it was another entertaining day of Big Ten football. CLICK HERE