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Wisconsin Badgers weekly recruiting rundown (August 28)

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

Matt Belz

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Just a week away from the football team's first game against Illinois State, recruiting news is still trickling in for the Wisconsin football and men's basketball teams. 

The basketball team is still building relationships with some of their top overall targets, while the football team is evaluating film with high school football underway across the country. 

In an attempt to provide an overview of everything that happened during the past seven days, here is the weekly recruiting rundown.

Contents

  1. Basketball: 2023 player rankings updated
  2. Football: Wisconsin offers 2024 cornerback
  3. Football: 2023 quarterbacks coming to campus

Basketball: 2023 player rankings updated

Greg Gard and the Badgers have two commits in the 2023 recruiting class, and each is now a top-200 prospect, according to 247 Sports.

The national recruiting service released a rankings update on Monday, and both Gus Yalden and John Blackwell are positioned nicely after the update.

Yalden headlines the class for Wisconsin. The 6-foot-9 forward put together a big summer, and as a result, he is a consensus four-star prospect. 247 has him as the No. 93 player in the country for his grade and the No. 13 center.

Blackwell was a less-known player when he made his commitment to UW, but he has continued to develop into a high three-star prospect in 2023. With the new update, he is the No. 192 player in the nation and the No. 25 combo-guard in the class. His versatility and length make him an intriguing player and an athlete who could see his stock continue to elevate on the trail.

Overall, Wisconsin's 2023 signing class now sits as the No. 23 class, with room to grow if they can land another player. The name to watch continues to be Nolan Winter, who took an official visit to Madison recently. He has an upcoming official to Minnesota, and the two are battling for his services. Winter is the No. 175 player in the country by 247 Sports and will likely choose between Wisconsin and Minnesota in the coming months. The other name to know is Bubu Benjamin, who has an official visit lined up with the Badgers for later in September. He is still unranked after the update and is a potential backup plan if Winter chooses elsewhere. 

Football: Wisconsin offers 2024 cornerback

The Wisconsin Badgers extended a new scholarship offer on Tuesday, targeting Texas four-star cornerback Xavier Filsaime of McKinney, Texas. 

A talented and explosive athlete that plays both ways at McKinney High School, Filsaime is one of the top players in the state of Texas for his grade level. The Badgers are one of 19 schools with an offer out to Filsaime, who is 6-feet tall and weighs around 170 pounds. 

A track star with additional interest coming from some of the top schools in the country, it will be interesting to see how much of a threat Wisconsin will be in Filsaime's recruitment going forward. 

You can read our entire offer breakdown from earlier this week here. 

Football: 2023 quarterbacks coming to campus

Still looking for a quarterback in the 2023 recruiting class, the Wisconsin offensive coordinator Bobby Engram is still confident that the team will land a QB in this cycle. 

According to Jon McNamara of the Rivals Network, the Badgers have three 2023 quarterbacks who will be on campus next month for visits. 

Here is a look at the three players coming to campus in the next few weeks:

  • Ryan Browne of Milford Academy (New York)

Browne is an uncommitted 6-foot-5 inch signal-caller from the Northeast with offers from Kent State, Toledo, and Western Michigan. In addition to the Badgers, Browne is also receiving interest from Florida State after previously playing his junior season in Florida and helping lead his team to a state championship.

Browne threw for over 2,600 yards and 31 touchdowns with a 60% completion percentage in 2021 with Venice High School per MaxPreps. 

You can check out highlights from his high school game a couple of days ago below. 

  • Cole LaCrue of Bloomfield, Colorado

Another quarterback coming to campus is Colorado quarterback Cole LaCrue. Standing 6-foot-2, LaCrue holds scholarships from Central Michigan, Northern Colorado, and South Dakota at this juncture. He took an official visit to Central Michigan back in June, and is also receiving other Power-5 interest from mostly out West. More of a dual-threat option, LaCrue is a player to watch if the Badgers do make an offer. 

LaCrue threw for just shy of 2,800 yards and added 710 yards rushing last season, with 38 total touchdowns and eight interceptions, according to Prep Redzone. 

You can watch some highlights of his from a recent scrimmage below. 

  • Jerry Kaminski of Sun Prairie (Wisconsin)

The Badgers will also host Sun Prairie quarterback Jerry Kaminski in September despite his commitment to North Dakota. Also listed at 6-foot-2, Kaminski has been a frequent visitor for the past two seasons and is on Wisconsin's radar as a walk-on or scholarship option in 2023. 

Kaminski committed to North Dakota back in late June, and threw for 2,559 yards and 30 touchdowns at Sun Prairie a year ago, per WisSports.

You can watch a pair of recent highlights from this past weekend of Kaminski below. 

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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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