Wisconsin football scores big portal win by keeping former top signee in town

The Wisconsin Badgers received some big news out of the portal today in the retention of highly rated defensive line piece Jamel Howard. He was one of the top recruits for UW out of the 2023 class, and he's been redshirting and waiting for his opportunity in the hopes of being a monster, wrecking backfields in 2025. That dream seemed to evaporate when Howard jumped into the portal. However, today, 24/7 Sports has reported that he is staying with Wisconsin.

Luke Fickell picks up a big win by retaining defensive lineman Jamel Howard

This is a big recruiting win for Luke Fickell and his staff, as Howard was projected to be a rotational defensive lineman this next season. The plan was always to give him his redshirt and then, this year, to get stronger and faster. Wait on a more consistent opportunity and then begin to make noise in his redshirt sophomore year.

He has yet to record a stat at the college level but projects as a big, strong run, stuffing tackle. He was a three-star recruit out of high school in 2023. According to the Wisconsin Badgers Athletics website, he "Made 53 tackles, including 8.0 TFLs and 3.0 sacks, as a senior [in high school] in 2022, named honorable mention All-State by the IHSFCA after 2022 season and made 27 tackles as a junior [in high school]."

In an offseason full of drama, especially regarding the transfer portal. It's nice to have a transfer portal win for the Badgers. It's another reminder that the Xavier Lucas news is such an outlier, and the players on the team even understand that it is. If Wisconsin had done something that teammates felt was wrong, players like Howard wouldn't have decided to stay, and other players would never have transferred in.

Luke Fickell and staff are working hard to make sure 2025 is a huge step in the right direction.