All Badgers

Wisconsin Badgers weekly recruiting rundown (May 22)

An overview of the news from this week in Wisconsin football and basketball recruiting.

Matt Belz

In this story:

Recruiting never stops, and the Wisconsin Badgers continue to stay hot on the recruiting trail. 

Contents

  1. Basketball: Ross Candelino walks on with Wisconsin
  2. Basketball: 2023 forward Gus Yalden commits to the Badgers
  3. Football: Defensive lineman Roderick Pierce joins the 2023 class
  4. Football: Running back Nate White picks Wisconsin
  5. Football: Jaquez Keyes continues to add offers
  6. Football: Wisconsin makes the top-6 for Amare Snowden
  7. Football: WR Hilton Alexander includes Wisconsin in his final six
  8. Football: Wisconsin misses out on cornerback Cole Shivers
  9. Football: Ian Reed and Nate Johnson schedule official visits
  10. Football: Complete list of new offers that went out

This week both the football and basketball teams added multiple key commitments, while the football team made some significant cut-down lists and sent out several new offers to prospects across the country.

In an attempt to break down all of the news and notes that occurred this past week, here is our weekly recruiting rundown. 

Basketball: Ross Candelino walks on with Wisconsin

Late last Sunday, Greg Gard and the Wisconsin basketball team added a commitment from Florida guard Ross Candelino. The 6-foot-5 wing is the second walk-on commitment for the Badgers, and he chose UW over a scholarship offer from American University.

This past year, Candelino helped lead Ponte Vedra High School to its first ever state championship appearance, and according to MaxPreps, he averaged 14.2 points, 2.2 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per game as a senior.

You can read our full breakdown of Candelino's commitment here. 

Basketball: 2023 forward Gus Yalden commits to the Badgers

Perhaps the biggest news of the week came on Tuesday afternoon with the commitment of four-star forward Gus Yalden. 

Nicknamed the "Gus Bus," he comes to Wisconsin with a ton of fanfare and a robust offer list that includes more than 20 schools. 

Yalden is originally from Appleton, Wisconsin, and he represents the second commit for the Badgers in the 2023 recruiting class, joining John Blackwell. 

The 6-foot-9 big man is extremely skilled and should be a major contributor when he gets on campus. 

Our full coverage of Yalden's commitment can be found here.  

Football: Defensive lineman Roderick Pierce joins the 2023 class

The football team secured a significant commitment from defensive lineman Roderick Pierce of Brother Rice High School in Chicago on May 19. 

At 6-foot-3 and 290 pounds, Pierce could play nose tackle or defensive end for the Badgers, and he is a talented three-star addition. 

In the end, Pierce chose Wisconsin over offers from Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, and Purdue, among others. 

He is the only defensive line commit for now, but he is also close friends with Wisconsin target Jamel Howard, a 320-pound nose tackle in the 2023 class that will officially visit Madison in June. 

You can see our entire commitment breakdown here. 

Football: Running back Nate White picks Wisconsin

Paul Chryst and the football team also landed a commitment from 2023 running back Nate White out of Milwaukee. 

Electric with the ball in his hands, White became the second running back commit for the staff, joining Jaquez Keyes out of Ohio, and the two form a tremendous pairing for Al Johnson in the running back room. 

White had additional offers from Iowa State, Kansas, Minnesota, Purdue, and Vanderbilt, but opted to stay home with the Badgers. 

The full commitment recap for White can be found here. 

Football: Jaquez Keyes continues to add offers

As previously mentioned, Jaquez Keyes is committed to Wisconsin in the 2023 recruiting class. 

That has not stopped other schools from reaching out to Keyes and extending new scholarship offers to the four-star running back. 

Since his commitment to Wisconsin on May 13, Keyes has added offers from Michigan, Kentucky, and Indiana, to go along with previous scholarship opportunities with Pittsburgh and Iowa. 

The Badgers do not appear to be in danger of losing Keyes at this time, but the influx of offers does speak to his talent level and the fact that the staff identified him early. 

Football: Wisconsin makes the top-6 for Amare Snowden

Four-star cornerback Amare Snowden out of Michigan trimmed his list of finalists from 40 total offers down to six contenders, with the Badgers included.

The 6-foot-3 defensive back has narrowed his list to Cincinnati, Howard, Iowa, Kentucky, Penn State, and Wisconsin. 

Snowden was on campus for a spring practice back on April 19, and now it will be interesting to see if the Badges can secure one of his five official visits this summer. 

Wisconsin is in on some talented cornerbacks in the 2023 cycle, but Snowden's length and athleticism make him potentially the top target in the class. 

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Football: WR Hilton Alexander includes Wisconsin in his final six

The Badgers made the top six for Georgia athlete Hilton Alexander II. 

A track star, Alexander is one of the fastest wide receivers that the staff is recruiting, and he is now down to Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, UNLV, Wake Forest, Western Kentucky, and Wisconsin. 

The Badgers offered Alexander back on April 27, and it will now be fascinating to see if he ends up visiting Madison this summer. 

Playing in 12 games this past season, Alexander recorded 53 receptions for 669 receiving yards and five touchdowns. His father played in NFL for multiple seasons and is now a speed coach in Georgia. 

Football: Wisconsin misses out on cornerback Cole Shivers

Arizona cornerback Cole Shivers made a commitment to Northwestern following an official visit to Evanston. 

Given how well Wisconsin sits for some other cornerbacks on their board, the loss of Shivers does not appear to be a big deal at this time, but it is notable that the Wildcats have landed a pair of offered prospects that the Badgers were after in the past two weeks. 

Football: Ian Reed and Nate Johnson schedule official visits

Outside of landing commitments from Roderick Pierce and Nate White, the biggest recruiting news of the week for the football program came on Wednesday. Four-star offensive lineman Ian Reed took to Twitter to announce that he will take an official visit to Madison on June 9. The Badgers are battling with Clemson, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, and Texas. 

Three-star cornerback Nate Johnson out of Florida also shared on Twitter that he will take an official visit to Wisconsin. The Clearwater native will be on campus the first weekend of June. 

Our full coverage of Reed and Johnson's official visits can be read here. 

Football: Complete list of new offers that went out

2023 Class:

2024 Class:

2025 Class:

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Matt Belz
MATT BELZ

Title: Publisher, Beat Writer for AllBadgers.com, a Sports Illustrated Channel Hello, my name is Matt Belz, and I am the site manager at All Badgers. I previously wrote for multiple years at Buckeyes 5th Quarter and have been the leading publisher here since March of 2022.  When I am not covering the Wisconsin Badgers football and men's basketball teams, I enjoy being outside and spending time with family and friends.  You can follow everything I write about on several different platforms. First and foremost on our site...AllBadgers.com You can follow me personally on Twitter at @savedbythebelz or check out our Facebook page at Wisconsin FanNation on Sports Illustrated.

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