Paul Chryst and Co. nearly cleaned up on its in-state targets in the 2016 class, and it appears the Badges are going to complete the task in 2017. On Monday night the coaching staff received two verbal commitments from in-state offensive linemen.
First it was Menomonie, Wis. offensive guard Alex Fenton giving his verbal commitment to the Badgers. Fenton is an interesting case, as he comes to Wisconsin at 6-5, 280 pounds and mainly playing defensive tackle and tight end throughout his high school career.
Given his size, the Badgers are recruiting him to play inside on the offensive line — taking advantage of his athleticism and size.
Fenton isn’t rated by any of the recruiting services as of yet, but it is still early in the evaluation process and should change quickly.
It didn’t take long for the coaching staff to get more good news, as Kimberly, Wis. offensive lineman Logan Bruss added his name to the list of the verbally committed in-state products.
The addition of Bruss was huge, as he was picking up some major interest around the Big Ten and the country. Bruss had recently picked up offers from Colorado State, Michigan, Nebraska and Illinois.
He comes to the Badgers as the No. 2 ranked player in the state of Wisconsin.
His addition makes it four commitments in the class of 2017 and helps the Badgers move up to No. 28 in the country and No. 6 in the Big Ten.
Those rankings are likely to change as three of the four committed prospects have yet to be rated by any of the recruiting services. Look for that to happen soon, especially given the commitment status and offers coming in for all three of them.
However, more importantly, the Badgers coaching staff continues to flex its muscle with the in-state prospects. Wisconsin remains in a good spot for the two uncommitted, yet ranked in-state prospects in offensive lineman Tyler Beach and Badger legacy, athlete Jake Ferguson.
Add those two and the Badgers will have cleaned up on all the in-state prospects they targeted from the beginning of the process in the 2017 class.
Getting these two commitments also helps to put pressure on the other in-state kids to make it a clean sweep, but don’t expect another commitment for a bit from either Beach or Ferguson. The two seem likely to let the process play out a bit longer through the spring semester at the very least.
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