Wisconsin Basketball: Badgers make first offer in class of 2022

Greg Gard and the Wisconsin basketball staff have extended their first offer in the class of 2022 to Minnesota forward Camden Heide.

Wisconsin has officially added the first name to its board of targets in the class of 2022.

On Wednesday afternoon, Wayzata (Minnesota) forward Camden Heide took to Twitter to announce that he has received an offer from the Badgers. Wisconsin is the first school to offer the 6’5, 180-pounder from the Twin Cities area, a distinction that can occasionally prove crucial throughout a player’s recruitment.

Heide runs with D1 Minnesota of the adidas Gauntlet Series on the AAU circuit, the same program that produced current Wisconsin forward Nate Reuvers and incoming freshman Tyler Wahl.  The latter quickly tweeted his congratulations to Heide soon after he announced his offer from the Badgers.

https://twitter.com/tjwahl01/status/1123638265934950400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1123638265934950400&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbadgerofhonor.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D57509%26action%3Dedit

As did fellow Minnesota native Brad Davison:

https://twitter.com/braddavi34/status/1123641426443681792

Wisconsin’s prized point guard commit in the class of 2020 also seems quite enthused by the prospect of teaming up with Heide a few years down the line.

https://twitter.com/TheRealLorneB/status/1123647227665289217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1123647227665289217&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbadgerofhonor.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D57509%26action%3Dedit

Heide, who averaged 13.5 points a contest as a freshman for Wayzata, already looks like he is going to be one of the more highly-coveted prospects in the country as his recruitment intensifies over the next couple of years. For instance, national recruiting analysts such as 247Sports’ Director of Recruiting Evan Daniels have already begun to take notice of his talent and are making a point to take in Heide’s games on the AAU circuit this spring.

There’s certainly a lot to like about Heide’s versatile, well-rounded skill set. He already has solid positional size on the wing and will presumably continue to grow a bit throughout his prep years, as well as a gorgeous stroke from downtown and explosive athleticism. Heide’s highlight reel from his freshman year is full of plenty of monster dunks and blocks on defense, hinting at his potential to be a two-way stud at the high-major level.

Greg Gard is very selective with his scholarship offers, so the fact that he is extending one to Heide so early in his recruitment speaks volumes about the type of player he and his staff think he can be at the next level. Given Gard’s track record of success in Minnesota and his long and fruitful relationship with Heide’s AAU program, I would expect the Badgers to be major players here. Of course, it never hurts to be the first program to offer a kid, either.

That being said, based on what we have already seen, Heide looks like he could be a future Top 100-perhaps even Top 50-prospect in the country when he gets ranked by the recruiting services, which means there will be no shortage of suitors coming after him.

Wisconsin will likely have to fight tooth and nail to land his signature, but there are certainly plenty of factors working in their favor with Heide early on. This will be an exciting recruitment for Badger fans to monitor moving forward.