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Wisconsin Football: Badgers miss on Isaiah Gibson

By Sam Land

ARLINGTON, TX - JANUARY 02: Wisconsin Badgers Head Coach Paul Chryst reacts on the sideline during the 81st Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic between Western Michigan and Wisconsin at AT&T Stadium on January 2, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - JANUARY 02: Wisconsin Badgers Head Coach Paul Chryst reacts on the sideline during the 81st Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic between Western Michigan and Wisconsin at AT&T Stadium on January 2, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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One of Wisconsin Football’s top remaining targets in the 2019 class committed elsewhere on Wednesday evening.

Badger fans will have to wait a bit longer for the next addition to Wisconsin’s promising 2019 recruiting class.

On Wednesday, 3-star defensive tackle Isaiah Gibson (Dayton, OH) announced his commitment to Kentucky over fellow finalists Purdue and Wisconsin.

Obviously, Gibson’s decision is a disappointing outcome for the Badgers. Following his official visit to Madison back in June, Wisconsin had a good amount of confidence that he would end up in the Cardinal and White.

That confidence waned a bit once Gibson picked up two huge offers from Georgia and Florida in July, but was restored when he ultimately released a Top 3 list at the beginning of this month that excluded those two SEC powers, leaving Kentucky, Purdue, and Wisconsin as the finalists.

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That being said, Gibson’s decision to choose Kentucky is not all that surprising. The Wildcats began forming a relationship with him before most other schools, as they were the first Power Five school to extend an offer. In addition, Gibson’s head coach at Springfield High is former NFL safety and Kentucky alum Maurice Douglass. Douglass’ son, Moses, also plays for Springfield and is a Kentucky commit.

The good news is that Wisconsin already has two defensive line commitments in the class from Keeanu Benton (Janesville, WI) and Gio Paez (Cornelius, NC), so the loss of Gibson is not all that devastating.

The Badgers are also still in the mix for a few other targets on the defensive line.

4-star tackle Rodas Johnson (Columbus, OH) released a Top 6 in August that included Duke, Michigan, Oklahoma, Penn State, and Texas, along with Wisconsin. The Badgers appear to be trending for Johnson at the moment but overcoming those other schools will be very difficult. Keep an eye on Ohio State as well. The Buckeyes have not offered, but if they decided to change that they could potentially become the team to beat, as Johnson is right in their backyard.

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Wisconsin also offered 3-star defensive end Taurean Carter (Mansfield, TX) at the end of August. Prior to the offer, Carter had cut down his list to four schools: Arkansas, Michigan State, Texas, and Texas Tech. We will see if Wisconsin can get him on campus for a visit and become a contender for his services.