Wisconsin recruiting: a bunch of football offers went out this week

Recruiting is the lifeblood of any major college athletics team, but following it closely as a fan can sometimes be difficult and can often be time consuming. We’ll try and condense all the recruiting news you can use into this bi-weekly (sometimes more) post. It’ll include updates on current commits, including stats from their high school games, as well as news on players the Badgers are still pursuing. Let’s get down to business!

New offers

• 2023 4-star LB Ta’Mere Robinson (Pittsburgh, Pa.) out of Brashear High School received an offer from the Badgers earlier this week. Robinson has a dozen offers already, including from Kentucky, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Pitt, Rutgers, Tennessee and a few others.

Robinson is 6-foot-4 and weighs 210 (or more) pounds and plays safety for his high school, although most see him growing into a linebacker (like Braelon Allen, who is now obviously a running back, did). He is rated as the No. 105 player and No. 9 LB in the country by the 247 Composite as well as the No. 3 player in the state of Pennsylvania.

247 Sports’ Brian Dohn notes that Robinson has “excellent ball skills down the field. Shows speed to play outside numbers. Willing to play physical in run game and fill gaps. Shows quickness and speed playing down hill.”

Robinson doesn’t have any Crystal Ball predictions but it looks like he’ll be in Happy Valley for the White Out game against Auburn on Saturday night.

• 2023 4-star CB Jace Arnold (Marietta, Ga.) out of Marietta High School received an offer from Wisconsin this week. Arnold only has six offers right now, but besides Wisconsin’s they are all from SEC schools like Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tennessee.

Arnold is 5-foot-10 and weighs around 170 pounds. He is rated as the No. 279 player and No. 30 CB in the country by the 247 Composite as well as the No. 30 player in talent-rich Georgia. He looks like he has pretty good ball skills and instincts on his Hudl tape, but one thing that is a little weird is that Wisconsin’s offer is his first one in almost nine months.

Hopefully that means UW will have a chance of getting him on campus and out of the south, although his offer list, even though small, is tough.

• 2023 4-star EDGE Joshua Mickens (Indianapolis) out of Lawrence Central High School also earned an offer from the Badgers this past week. Wisconsin was offer No. 13 for Mickens, a list that also includes Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Michigan, Michigan State and others.

Mickens is 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, which is a Power 5 ready frame at the EDGE rushing position. He is rated as the No. 236 player and No. 13 EDGE by the 247 Composite while also being the No. 3 player in Indiana. His highlights from a game against Lafayette Jefferson High School at the end of August included a sack, a fumble return for a touchdown and multiple stops in the backfield.

• 2022 IOL John Clifford (Watertown) out of Watertown High School received a preferred walk-on offer from the Badgers this week. According to an article from the Watertown Daily Times, “Clifford has standing offers from a pair of Division II schools in Minnesota and a couple of lower level Division 1 programs.”

Clifford is 6-foot-5 and weighs 260 pounds and could be another one in a long list of in-state walk-ons that develop into a rotational piece later in their career.

• 2022 OL Drew Evans (Fort Atkinson) out of Fort Atkinson High School also received a preferred walk-on offer from the Badgers this week. Madison.com mentioned him before this season started, noting: “The 6-6, 250-pound Evans will be a key lineman for Fort Atkinson, including on offense, where he’ll be leading the way for senior running back Alec Courtier. Fort Atkinson coach Nick Nelson likes Evans’ work ethic and what he brings to the team, saying: “You can’t help notice him when he’s playing.”