Wisconsin Badgers weekly recruiting rundown (June 26)

This past week once again provided plenty of Wisconsin Badgers football and basketball recruiting news. 

The football team added two new recruits to the 2023 recruiting class, has a potential new commitment on the way, and sent out an offer to an underclassmen. 

While the basketball team did not add a commitment, Greg Gard and the staff did host one of their top remaining targets in the 2023 cycle for an official visit.

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

Basketball: Gehrig Normand officially visits Madison

Wisconsin is still in the market for at least one more scholarship player in the class of 2023. Near the top of the staff's wish list is four-star wing Gehrig Normand out of North Richland Hills, Texas. 

This week, the 6-foot-6 sharpshooter took an official visit with the Badgers to get a firsthand look at the program. 

Wisconsin offered Normand less than a month ago, so the fact that he set up a visit so quickly indicates a strong level of interest, and the Badgers appear to be one of his top schools, alongside Texas, Oklahoma State, and Missouri. 

From all accounts, the visit went well, and Wisconsin has a good chance in this recruitment. The in-state draw of Texas will be hard to overcome, but the Longhorns are also pursuing several other wing prospects, and it is unknown where exactly he sits on Texas' recruiting board.

The Badgers are also after Minnesota forward Nolan Winter, but I don't see a situation where the staff turns away Normand or Winter based on the current scholarship distribution, the talent level of both players, and the heightened amount of movement in college basketball with the transfer portal. 

Normand hoping to make his college decision sometime this summer. 

Basketball: Wisconsin misses on Illinois forward Cooper Koch

The Badgers were in the thick of things for four-star forward Cooper Koch of Peoria, Illinois, for a long time. The 6-foot-8 scorer was on campus multiple times and showed a high level of interest in Wisconsin throughout the process. 

However, earlier this week, Koch opted to shut down his recruitment and committed to the Big Ten rival Iowa. 

A 2024 prospect, it is early enough in the process that the Badgers will be just fine, and the coaching staff has plenty of other top prospects in the class that they are in a good spot for at this juncture. It is notable that he chose to remain in the Big Ten though, and he will likely be a name to know in the conference once he gets on campus. 

Football: Wisconsin lands a pair of 2023 commits

The Wisconsin Badgers football team added two new players to the 2023 recruiting class in the past seven days. 

The first came on Monday, as Hawaii wide receiver Trech Kekahuna took to Twitter to announce his commitment to the Badgers. The three-star athlete hails from the same high school as Nick Herbig and Kamo'i Latu, and his quickness should make him an exciting option in the slot. 

You can read our full commitment breakdown for Kekahuna here. 

Wisconsin secured a commitment from four-star cornerback Jace Arnold later in the week as well. The highest rated recruit in the class according to the 247 Sports Composite, which aggregates the data from all of the major ranking services, Arnold is an incredibly fast and twitchy cornerback that represents arguably the biggest recruiting win in the 2023 cycle so far. 

From the state of Georgia, Arnold held offers from some of the top schools in the southeast, but in the end, Wisconsin's family atmosphere and defensive tradition won out. 

You can read our full commitment breakdown for Arnold here. 

Football: Defensive line commitments

With Illinois d-lineman Trey Pierce already committed to Wisconsin football in the 2023 recruiting class, the Badgers could be on the verge of adding another Illinois defensive line commit later today. 

Three-star nose tackle Jamel Howard will announce his college on Sunday, and Wisconsin were his lone official visit.

His commitment date comes on the heels of the Badgers missing out on a different defensive lineman, as Ashton Sanders chose to stay home and play for Cal on Friday night. Wisconsin was the runner-up in Sanders' recruitment, so it will be interesting to see where the staff goes from here if Howard does join the class. 

Pierce and Howard would be a good pairing based on their skillsets, but I could see defensive line coach Ross Kolodziej pushing to add one more player to his position group for 2023, depending on available scholarships. 

Football: Top targets officially visit elsewhere

Wisconsin's strategy this summer was to get all of their top players for 2023 on campus during the first two weeks of June to set the tone in each recruitment. 

Many of the uncommitted players that are still considering the Badgers took official visits to other schools this weekend. Here is a quick rundown of where each prospect was:

• Quarterback Lincoln Kienholz - at Washington (previously visited Wyoming and North Dakota State after Wisconsin)
• Cornerback Braeden Marshall - at North Carolina (previously UCF and Pitt as well as Wisconsin)
• Offensive lineman Joe Crocker - at Michigan State (previously visited Mississippi State after Wisconsin)
• Outside linebacker Tackett Curtis - at Ohio State (previously visited USC after Wisconsin)
• Defensive end My'Kiel Gardner - at Oregon (previously visited Michigan and Texas after Wisconsin)
• Tight end Zach Ortwerth - at Iowa (previously visited Minnesota and Pittsburgh after Wisconsin)
• Offensive lineman Christopher Terek - At Iowa (previously visited Michigan and Illinois after Wisconsin)
• Safety Khalil Tate - At Iowa (previously visited Purdue after Wisconsin)

Most of these players are looking to make a college decision prior to their senior season, making the next few weeks very important for the Badgers. Wisconsin came into the weekend in relatively good shape for Kienholz, Marshall, Crocker, Curtis, and Tate, but official visits can swing momentum quickly. We will see if the coaching staff's strategy of frontloading visits pays off. 

Football: New offer goes out to a 2025 prospect

After weeks and weeks of offers going out in the 2023, 2024, and 2025 classes, the Badgers only extended one new offer in the past seven days.

Wisconsin offered 2025 athlete Adam Shovlin out of New England on Monday. 

A big and powerful defensive end and tight end, Shovlin is still years from a decision, but it is nice to see the Badgers get ahead of the curve and offer the 6-foot-6 sophomore. 

You can read about Shovlin as a prospect here. 

Related links:

• 2022 freshmen enrollees breakdown and expectations
• Wisconsin offers 2024 outside linebacker Sam Pilof
• How the newest Wisconsin basketball additions might fit in the rotation

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