Luke Fickell misses on 3-star safety recruit: 'He fought to the final day'

Nick Reddish, a 3-star safety out of North Carolina, chose to shut down his recruitment today and commit to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Wisconsin was one of the final four schools on the table, and Reddish had nice things to say about the Badgers' recruitment of him. Ultimately, it wasn't enough as Luke Fickell did all he could but lost to the Irish in the end.

3-star safety Nick Reddish chose Notre Dame over Virginia Tech, Indiana, and Wisconsin

Nick Reddish was one of four different commits choosing to make their college choice live on 24/7 Sports' YouTube stream. He joined recruiting analyst Tom Loy to share about his process and why he ultimately picked the Irish. The big news for Wisconsin fans was his praise for the Badgers and why they lasted until the end of his recruitment.

"I probably have the best relationship with the coach there. He's been recruiting me from day one and he fought until the last day [for my recruitment]. "

Nick Reddish

Reddish is a 5'11 185 185-pound safety who Wisconsin has been chasing for quite a while. As the list was narrowing for Reddish, the choices began to become more spread out. It was a more local school in Virginia Tech, a championship-quality team in Notre Dame, and a fast-rising Big Ten school in Indiana. Wisconsin made the cut because of relationships. Which, in many ways, is a good news/bad news situation for Badger fans. It's great that Wisconsin can build and make cuts because of their relationships, but it's tough being the bridesmaid and not the bride.

In a weird twist of fate, it's actually the second miss on a safety in the 2026 recruiting class this week. Earlier this week, Wisconsin made the final cut for 4-star Jowell Combay, but ultimately Combay chose to stay in the SEC (he's from Georgia) and play for the Tennessee Volunteers.