The state of Wisconsin’s 2015 football class is nowhere near as deep and talented overall as the past few, making it vitally important for the Badgers to keep the top players from leaving the borders. On Sunday, UW took a big step towards doing just that, earning the commitment of the 247Sports composite No. 1-ranked player — Jon Dietzen.
Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports broke the news, stating the 4-star recruit told the Badgers of his verbal pledge on Sunday morning. He is the No. 31-ranked offensive tackle in the country, holding other offers from Illinois, Michigan State, Nebraska, Iowa State and Miami (FL) before making his commitment.
His main recruiter was Ben Strickland, who is in charge of recruiting in the state of Wisconsin, but according to Evan Flood of Bager247, offensive line coach T.J. Woods gave a good assist in landing the first offensive lineman of the class.
The 6’5″, 330-pound tackle out of Seymour, Wis. High School is the first in-state prospect to commit for the 2015 class, and is the fourth overall commitment for UW in this class. He joins quarterback Austin Kafentzis, wide receiver Andrew James and tight end Kyle Penniston as verbal commits to the Badgers.
With the commitment of Dietzen, UW moves up to No. 41 (jumping 11 spots) in the national rankings and No. 7 in the Big Ten in the early part of the recruiting cycle.
From his sophomore season on, it has been clear he’s a top-level prospect and was priority No. 1 for the Badgers in the state. The one thing that stands out having seen him in person and via local highlights in the Green Bay area is just how athletic he is. Dietzen loves to pull, even from his tackle spot and could be a versatile prospect with the combination of his size and athletic ability. Here is a look at his sophomore film for perspective:
You can also see his nasty streak via Hudl highlights, here.
Getting Dietzen’s commitment was also a nice swing to some positive momentum in this recruiting class too. Earlier in the week the Badgers lost out to Illinois for 4-star offensive lineman Gabe Megginson, and it had been nearly two months since James’ commitment.
UW still needs to continue building depth on the offensive line, and this is a great way to start building for this class. Expect Wisconsin to look for three or four more offensive linemen in the class to help get the numbers up and avoid situations like the last few springs.
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