A few days ago, the word around 3-star defensive lineman Carmelow Reed was that he was headed to Ole Miss for an official visit. At the time, he was a Wisconsin commit, but he had some concerning quotes that he would be changing his mind on that commitment.
He told Greg Smith of Rivals.com, “Coach Joyner came and saw me workout and made an impression on me so I didn’t want to sell myself short on recruitment and just seeing what else is out there.”
It's that "sell myself short on my recruitment" that stands out. As a current commit to Wisconsin, that's concerning, and basically, put the writing on the wall. When he did flip to Ole Miss after his visit this weekend, it came without a lot of surprise.
3-star Carmelow Reed has flipped his commitment from Ole Miss to Wisconsin
Carmelow Reed is part of an intense effort by the coaching staff to ensure the trenches are emphasized. Wisconsin has been working tirelessly to bring in defensive line recruits, so this is a frustrating blow, but over the weekend, Wisconsin added four other commitments, two of which were defensive linemen.
Wisconsin had an impressive recruiting weekend. Over 15 recruits were on the campus, and four of them committed. While they lost Reed, they added Djidjou Bah and Arthur Scott, who are also 3-star defensive linemen. The coaching staff is after a few others.
There's also a chance that Wisconsin ends up flipping an Ole Miss commit like some strange coincidental trade. A recent Ole Miss de-commit athlete named Zion Legree has been garnering interest from the Badgers and is strongly considering coming to Madison in the 2026 recruiting class. He's fast as lightning, with a 4.3 40-yard dash speed.
Losing Reed is frustrating but it won't kill the buzz of a huge recruiting weekend for Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin Badgers.