Best player in the state picks Wisconsin women’s basketball over national powers

Adaline Sheplee, the top 2026 player in the state of Wisconsin, has committed to Robin Pingeton and the Badgers. The 4-star recruit has over 15+ offers from some of the top programs, including schools like Florida, Michigan, Louisville, Kansas, and more. According to Rivals, she ultimately wanted to stay home and be a Badger. Her relationship with Pingeton helped seal the deal.

4-star Adaline Sheplee has committed to the Wisconsin Badgers

Sheplee is listed as a small forward but with plenty of height for the position and even the ability to play down low as needed. She's 6'2 and has length and athleticism to play around the perimeter both defensively and offensively.

This is a major win for Pingeton and Wisconsin. The Badgers haven't been all that great with in-state players, and that's something that Pingeton said she wanted to address. She was able to do it in short order with a big early pickup.

In an interview with Rivals/On3, she mentions how Wisconsin came late into the process due to a coaching change and that she didn't have her eyes focused on Madison at all. The goal was to go out of state and play for one of the bigger programs coming after her. However, the relationship that Pingeton was able to establish even late in the recruiting cycle for Sheplee won her over.

A snippet of that interview will go to show this well:

"To be honest, I wasn’t planning on going to Wisconsin through my whole process. It just wasn’t where I wanted to end up. I thought I wanted to go somewhere out of state. Then I got to know her and I really connected with her. She has a really strong faith, which is also really important to me. I connected with her and also just became excited about her vision that she has, and the opportunity to make a big impact and do something unique in my home state and help the program out."

Adaline Sheplee

The entire interview is worth reading as it gives extra insight into how Pingeton recruited Sheplee and how part of it was the connection the two established. However, the vision for what Pingeton wants to see at Wisconsin ultimately helped close the gap and caused Sheplee to commit.