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Wisconsin football: Recruiting and transfer portal updates (12/16)

An overview of all of the recruiting and transfer portal news for the Wisconsin Badgers over the past seven days.

Matt Belz

In this story:

With Early Signing Day inching closer, Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin Badgers have been extremely active the past seven days. Not only did the Badgers secure multiple commitments, and extend several new scholarship offers, but Wisconsin is once again hosting another important recruiting weekend.

With so much going on in the world of recruiting because of the emergence of the transfer portal and signing day just five days away, here is a recruiting breakdown from the past week. 

Contents

  1. Wisconsin adds five new commits in the 2023 class
  2. The Badgers host multiple transfer visitors
  3. Wisconsin welcoming three official visitors
  4. Wisconsin offers three players in the transfer portal
  5. Wisconsin reoffers Mabrey Mettauer and Payton Pierce
  6. Wisconsin sends out a slew of new scholarship offers

Wisconsin adds five new commits in the 2023 class

Coming off a big recruiting weekend, Luke Fickell and the coaching staff did an excellent job of locking down some of their top visitors. Not only did the Badgers add in-state walk-on Davion Thomas out of Racine, but Wisconsin landed four scholarship players for the 2023 class. Here is a look at the four players, their projected position, star rating, and high school. 

While in isolation all four players are talented and important additions to the class, arguably the more important storyline was the ability of the staff to close on some key targets late in the cycle. Coming into last weekend, the Badgers had just eight players committed in the 2023 class. Days after hosting five uncommitted players for official visits, Wisconsin obtained commitments from four of them, and the fifth is highly considering UW. Braedyn Moore is one of the highest-rated recruits in the class, while cornerback Jonas Duclona is an Army All-American. Credit to the staff for the efforts on the trail, and it will now be interesting to see if Wisconsin can have similar success with another group of prospects coming to campus this weekend.  

The Badgers host multiple transfer visitors

While Luke Fickell has stated that he prefers to use the transfer portal only to fill gaps, the Wisconsin Badgers have hosted multiple transfer quarterbacks this week.

Former four-star quarterback Nick Evers was the first to step foot on campus, wrapping up his official visit to Madison on Tuesday and posting a picture of himself donning a Wisconsin uniform. The Oklahoma freshman has four years of eligibility remaining and would definitely add a talented young arm to the quarterback room. 

Virginia graduate transfer Brennan Armstrong is currently on campus. The left-handed quarterback had a prolific 2021 season with over 4,000 passing yards, but took a step back a season ago under the direction of a new offensive coordinator. Armstrong is one of the top transfer targets in the portal, and it will now be interesting to see if Luke Fickell can land one or both of these priority quarterbacks.

Defensive lineman Elijah Jeudy previously tweeted that he would be visiting Madison during the week, but we have not been able to confirm that he made that trip. Nebraska, Colorado, and Boston College are also involved with Jeudy. 

You can read up on all three players more here. 

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Wisconsin welcoming three official visitors

The Wisconsin coaching staff is hoping to keep the recruiting momentum going heading into this weekend. The Badgers are bringing in three known official visitors in the 2023 recruiting class, one of which is already a committed prospect for UW.

As of now, the following players are expected to come:

  • Four-star defensive back Amare Snowden

Amare Snowden previously had Wisconsin in his final six schools before committing to Cincinnati, and attended a spring practice in Madison earlier this year. With most of the coaching staff he committed to on campus now with Luke Fickell, Snowden is another supremely talented athlete that the Badgers are after.

Snowden possesses great length for the cornerback position at 6-foot-3 and he is tremendous athlete that also plays baseball. With additional offers from Arkansas, Boston College, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Syracuse, and West Virginia. 

Snowden recently visited West Virginia officially. 

  • Three-star offensive tackle Joshua Gregory

One of the top offensive tackles in the Midwest, Christian Brothers College offensive lineman Joshua Gregory will make the trip to Madison for an official visit. From Saint Louis, Missour, Gregory has been committed to Cincinnati since June, but Fickell and company are looking to flip his commitment before Early Signing Day. 

A long and athletic offensive tackle, Gregory also holds offers from Colorado, Kansas, Memphis, Minnesota, Missouri, and Northwestern, among others. With the Badgers losing Christopher Terek to Notre Dame, Wisconsin has room for another offensive lineman in the class, and Gregory has the length and upside to be a great addition. 

  • Four-star offensive guard James Durand (UW Commit)

While the majority of Wisconsin's commits were on campus last weekend, offensive guard James Durand will make the trip on Friday. From Arizona, Durand recently earned a fourth star by the Rivals Network, and he is considered the No. 14 guard and No. 218 player in the country overall by the recruiting service. 

There are no worries about Durand flipping at this time, but the timing of his visit aligns perfectly with Gregory being on campus. As the only offensive lineman committed in the 2023 class, Durand should be a great ambassador to potentially help nudge Gregory towards UW. 

Jake Kocorowski of the Wisconsin State Journal first reported Durand's visit, but we will update this list if any other prospects confirm that they are coming this weekend. 

Wisconsin offers three players in the transfer portal

In addition to hosting a pair of transfer quarterbacks this week, the Badgers also extended a trio of new scholarship offers to players in the transfer portal. 

Here is a quick look at those three individuals:

  • Arizona defensive lineman Paris Shand

The most recent scholarship to go out to a transfer target was to former Arizona defensive lineman Paris Shand. A former three-star recruit out of high school, Shand is a great athlete with a basketball background. At 6-foot-3 and around 290 pounds, Shand just concluded his sophomore year for Arizona and woul have multiple years of eligibility remaining after originally coming from Connecticut as a prep school standout. 

Shand played in nine games this season for the Wildcats and recorded 23 tackles and 2.5 sacks. 

  • Hillside College wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa

A former high school quarterback, Isaac TeSlaa made the switch to wide receiver at Hillside College (DII) and decided to enter his name into the transfer portal this off-season after a huge year. At 6-foot-4 and nearly 200 pounds TeSlaa has great size for the position and he 68 receptions for 1,325 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns in 11 games. 

With multiple years of eligibility remaining, TeSlaa has added scholarship offers from Baylor, Houston, Iowa, Iowa State, Miami, and Oklahoma State since entering the transfer portal. Originally from Michigan, it will be interesting to see if the Badgers can get him on campus for an official visit. 

  • Iowa cornerback Terry Roberts

Graduate transfer cornerback Terry Roberts also added an offer from the Badgers this week. A reserve and special teams player at Iowa, Roberts has played in 33 games with 47 tackles and two interceptions with the Hawkeyes. Likely looking for playing time, Roberts has offers from Arkansas, Georgia Southern, James Madison, Michigan State, Minnesota, Penn State, and West Virginia at this time. 

Wisconsin reoffers Mabrey Mettauer and Payton Pierce

The Wisconsin coaching staff is not just concentrating all of their time and energy on the 2023 class. This week, the staff reoffered a pair of top-level players in the 2024 cycle as well, with both linebacker Payton Pierce and quarterback Mabrey Mettauer taking to Twitter to announce the offers. 

Both offers are incredibly interesting for the Badgers. 

For Pierce, the offer comes on the heels of Wisconsin being left off his top-10 list earlier this month. Perhaps the new coaching staff can get him to reconsider and make a return trip to Madison. Pierce is ranked as a consensus four-star prospect out of Texas. 

With Mettauer, the hiring of Phil Longo should only help Wisconsin's chances. Mettauer visited UW for a game this fall, and has displayed interest since being offered back in the summer. Another school that Mettauer has shown consistent interest in though is North Carolina. With Longo now working for the Badgers, that should only help. Mettauer is one of the top quarterbacks in the entire country for the 2024 class, and he is a good athlete that can run and throw the ball well. 

Wisconsin sends out a slew of new scholarship offers

In addition to pursuing new players in the transfer portal and offering some previous targets, the Wisconsin Badgers sent out quite a few new scholarship offers in the 2024, 2025, and 2026 recruiting classes. 

Here is a quick overview of those offers:

  • Four-star running back Darrion Dupree (2024)

From Mount Caramel High School in the Chicago area, Dupree is one of the best Midwest running backs in the 2024 class. 

  • Four-star cornerback Terhyon Nichols (2024)

From Ohio, four-star cornerback Terhyon Nichols was previously offered by Luke Fickell at Cincinnati. He also holds offers from Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Penn State, among others early on. 

  • Three-star tight end Dillon Hipp (2024)

Wisconsin offered three-star tight end Dillon Hipp on Thursday evening. Ranked as the No. 12 player in the state of Arizona for his grade by 247 Sports, Hipp is 6-foot-6 and holds scholarship offers Power 5 from Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Duke, Iowa State, Kansas, Louisville, Oregon, Oregon State, Purdue, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, Washington, and Washington State. 

  • Athlete Jai'Mier Scott (2025)

A good two-way player out of Cincinnati, Jai'Mier Scott picked up his fourth overall scholarship this week from the Badgers. Wisconsin joins Cincinnati, Penn State, and West Virginia in pursuit of the talented athlete. 

  • Offensive lineman Avery Gach (2025)

Already holding several big scholarship offers, Wisconsin became the latest school to enter the race for 6-foot-5 offensive lineman Avery Gach. From Franklin, Michigan, Gach has no shortage of opportunities, with early offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and others. 

  • Wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. (2026)

Another talented Ohio prospect, Chris Henry Jr. also added an offer from Wisconsin. A 2026 prospect, there is a long way to go in his recruitment, but he already boasts some incredible scholarship numbers and will likely be one of the best wide receivers in the Midwest for his grade level. 

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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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