Luke Fickell is on quite a heater with in-state recruiting right now. And specifically, offensive line coach Eric Mateos, as he has now landed three of the top offensive line players in the state. Wisconsin added a huge commitment last week from Cole Reiter, who then said his goal was going to be to convince the Mallinger twins to join him. He's done just that.
Today, Hunter and Reece Mallinger are now verbally committed to the Badgers and Mateos. The twins are offensive linemen who play high school football in Germantown, Wisconsin. They represent a continued surge in in-state recruiting success for Wisconsin in 2026. In fact, that's the entire class right now, all-state Wisconsin players.
🚨 BREAKING 🚨 Wisconsin has received commitments from twin offensive linemen Hunter and Reece Mallingerhttps://t.co/GCikhZWYcqhttps://t.co/fn9APk15Gp pic.twitter.com/RKvkVPTtYV
— Jon McNamara (@McNamara_247) April 1, 2026
Wisconsin picks up two commitments via Hunter and Reece Mallinger
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The Badgers have seven commitments in the class now, and all seven are from the state of Wisconsin. This is not only a great thing for the Badgers, but it's also big for the state. Luke Fickell keeping all of the best players home is huge and important. It's also not a ding on the class because the in-state talent is really good.
Wisconsin now has the No. 15 recruiting class, according to 24/7 Sports. This is all with only in-state talent, with the rest of the class being filled out in other ways. Though there may still be a couple more in-state players deciding to stay home.
Korz Loken, the top tight end in the state and a player already committed to the Badgers, posted on social media today that there's still a player missing from the state of Wisconsin. He said that he and his fellow commits are working to bring in Kingston Allen, the top running back in the state. A 4-star recruit playing at Notre Dame Academy in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
It's hard to fault Fickell anymore for the ability to put a wall around the state. Something has drastically changed about how high school recruits view the program. Even without it showing up on the field yet. These in-state recruits will be part of the solution and no longer contribute to the demise of Badger football.