The Badgers brought in six uncommitted recruits for the first official visit weekend, and Luke Fickell has now nearly landed every single one of them. Nearly every single one. Five of the six are now Badgers, as that first weekend has produced dividends unlike any other in Luke Fickell's tenure. The fifth and most likely final is 3-star edge player Darin Graham from Illinois.
Graham has been chewing on his visit all week, and ahead of his visit to Georgia Tech, decided he didn't want to be anything else but a Badger. He was supposed to be visiting Ole Miss this weekend, and it's unclear whether that visit actually happened.
Blessed too announce my commitment too Wisconsin ALL GLORY TO GOD !! pic.twitter.com/cmdVRFsEV7
— Darin Graham (@DarinlGraham) June 7, 2026
Wisconsin has added five of six uncommitted recruits from the first official weekend of the year
Related: Wisconsin loses upcoming recruiting visitor as 3-star DB commits to hometown program
Graham is an excellent edge addition who had seven high-major offers including Ole Miss, Kentucky, Kansas State, Georgia Tech, and more. He's a top-25 player in the state of Illinois and his 6'5, 218 pound frame gives him a ton of room to become an elite edge rusher in college. Wisconsin can easily sell him how they've developed plenty of edge rushers in the past, even as recently as Mason Reiger, last year.
Graham loved his visit and was pretty blown away by how much he loved it. He told Nick Osen of 24/7 Sports, "They all made me feel welcome, and made it feel like the place to be. It really did make my decision harder. They stand strong with me.” Then he marinated on it all week and made the call to Luke Fickell and gave his verbal commitment.
It helps that he wants to play with another edge rusher in the 2027 class, Isaac Miller. "I think it would be really special [to play with Isaac Miller], I love Isaac. When we get down to third and long or big-game situations, you guys need guys like him." He said this on the lead-up to his decision, and now he gets to play with Miller and be those game-wreckers together.
The Badgers do seem to be loading up with defensive line players in the 2027 class. Graham and Miller are the edge recruits, while Will Zaccagnino, David Hill, and Yahzeen Zion are all representing interior (or potentially edge) defensive line recruits in the fold.
Read also: Luke Fickell pulled off a surprise recruiting win with 4-star DL over LSU and Oklahoma
The only player that didn't commit from that first weekend was Tavares Powell, a 3-star wide receiver from Florida. He just committed to Kansas. It will be the only real miss for Fickell from weekend No. 1. However, after adding other wide receivers, it's not a big miss. Instead, this is about as good a recruiting job as you could have dreamed of for Fickell.
Wisconsin fans are blown away that this late into the recruiting process, the Badgers are listed at No. 13 in the rankings for 24/7 Sports. A huge weekend and in-state recruiting have propelled Wisconsin to new heights.
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