Wisconsin is in the midst of spring ball, and Luke Fickell got some good news. 4-star wide receiver/athlete Cooper Ohnmacht narrowed his list to six schools, and Wisconsin made the cut. Ohnmacht is listed as the No. 1 2027 recruit out of the state of Kansas. He's a high-priority addition and a player who would add value to the Badgers basically immediately.
A four-star Kansas athlete just gave detailed insight on his top six programs 📝
— Greg Smith (@GregSmithRivals) April 9, 2026
Is one Big Ten school is pulling ahead in this recruitment?
View: https://t.co/WvUxw7IU1T pic.twitter.com/uQxWUFbjQ0
Cooper Ohnmacht has narrowed his list to Vanderbilt, Kansas, Kansas State, Wisconsin, Penn State, and Minnesota
Related: Rising three-star DL out of Arizona has the Wisconsin Badgers in his top schools
The original list was nine colleges deep, but now it's down to six, and 24/7 seems to think it's actually a race of four schools. Wisconsin, the two Kansas teams, and Penn State. He has a visit lined up for June 12th with the Badgers and two other visits with Kansas and Kansas State. It appears Ohnmacht will work to visit all six before making a decision.
Ohnmacht is listed as an athlete as he can play either side of the ball, and while most project him to be a wide receiver in college and beyond. There are some who think he could actually play at the next level as a safety.
One of those schools is actually Wisconsin, as Jack Cooper, the safeties coach, has been his primary recruiter for the Badgers. This may give the Badgers a little bit more of a runway if Ohnmacht wants to play defense more than offense at the next level.
Currently, the Wisconsin recruiting class is ranked 10th in the nation, and Luke Fickell has only brought in in-state high school recruits. Now that the recruiting well has been exhausted (for the most part) in the state, it's time to add high-value players from other states. Grabbing the top player from Kansas would be a huge first step.