Badger of Honor
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Where does Wisconsin basketball stand in recruiting

By Joey Lovell

MADISON, WISCONSIN - FEBRUARY 05: Head Coach Greg Gard of the Wisconsin Badgers looks on during the second half of the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Kohl Center on February 05, 2023 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
MADISON, WISCONSIN - FEBRUARY 05: Head Coach Greg Gard of the Wisconsin Badgers looks on during the second half of the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Kohl Center on February 05, 2023 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) /
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With Wisconsin struggling in what was once a promising season, it’s safe to say that the Badgers are missing a piece or two from being a high-level squad. We take a look at the current recruits and see how well they will fit into the fabric of Wisconsin basketball.

All of the recruiting rankings are obtained from 247’s college recruiting website, where they give you both basketball and football ratings for any Division 1 program.

Wisconsin basketball’s recruiting vs the rest of the Big Ten

As it currently stands, Wisconsin is ranked 9th in the Big Ten in recruiting for next season.

Michigan State leads the Big Ten, and is 3rd in the entire country, with two 5-star recruits and two 4-star.

Rounding out the rest of the top 5 in the Big Ten are Ohio State, Maryland, Illinois, and Iowa. Every one of those schools also have four incoming freshmen.

Penn State and Rutgers are 6th and 7th, with three commits each. Minnesota is 8th, with only 2 commits, but both are 4-stars.

As stated previously, the Badgers land in 9th position. What I find fascinating is the teams that are behind Wisconsin.

Coming in 10th position is Michigan. I guess the rest of the country doesn’t share the “Dancing Queen’s” opinion about Wisconsin. They currently have two 4-stars incoming.

Indiana lands in 11th and Northwestern at 12th. IU also has two 4-stars and Northwestern has two 3-stars and then another player who is not even ranked.

The last two spots are occupied by Purdue and Nebraska. The Boilermakers have one 4-star player coming in and the Cornhuskers have one 3-star.

For national ranking, Wisconsin basketball lands in the 39th spot, right behind Providence and right above Gonzaga.

Obviously, recruiting rankings do not always translate into wins and losses. But I believe what they are useful for is seeing how the Badgers are perceived in the public’s eye. It would appear that Wisconsin is more enticing than Michigan or the state of Indiana.

This would fall under the category of “Things We Knew”.

For what it’s worth, Bo Ryan had back-to-back classes that were ranked 20th in 2005 and 2006 and then two other classes that were ranked in the 30s.

Wisconsin basketball has always been a tough sell for some reason and Gard’s cumulative classes are actually better than the legendary Ryan’s.