Wisconsin Badgers head coach Greg Gard has his first commitment after officially getting the permanent job this past March. According to sources with our recruiting partners at Badger247, Gard and the Badgers have received a verbal commitment from 2017 forward Nathan Reuvers.
Beyond blessed to announce my commitment to further my education and basketball career at Wisconsin!🔴⚪️🏀#OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/b2IKyj0jEG
— Nathan Reuvers (@Reuvers35) May 18, 2016
The 6-9, 210-pound Minnesota native was in Madison on Wednesday for an unofficial visit and reportedly committed to the coaching staff on that visit. It wasn’t his first visit to the campus though, as he also visited this past September.
Gard should’ve been plenty familiar with Reuvers, as he was the lead recruiter for him until taking over the helm of the program this past December. However, Gard had help recently thanks to the hire of former Badger Joe Krabenhoft as an assistant. Krabenhoft had a relationship with Reuvers as an assistant with South Dakota State this past season.
Since those moves, Reuvers has blown up on the recruiting trail and held over 20 offers before committing to the Badgers.
Schools in on Reuvers included the likes of Minnesota, Clemson, Marquette, North Carolina State, Northwestern, DePaul, and Washington State. Confirmation of Reuvers’ commitment came in his talk to the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Wednesday afternoon.
Gard reportedly made two trips via plane to be around Reuvers during his recruitment and that kind of love paid off.
“It definitely showed a lot,” Reuvers said. “He came out to watch me play when he wasn’t even sure if he had the job yet.”
He also had a few things to say about the home-state Gophers, including a note to the culture and lack of quality within happening in Minneapolis.
“I definitely see all that stuff that is going on there,” he said. “I just don’t feel like I would be good in that culture.”
Reuvers was thought to be waiting to see if an offer from Notre Dame, where he had family ties, would come. However, he took UW’s offer and ran following his second visit and appears to be shutting down his recruitment.
“I could have waited until summer and picked up more offers in July, but even if I would have picked up those offers, I don’t think it would have changed my mind,” Reuvers said.
He joins Wisconsin native Kobe King in the class of 2017, and UW’s class now ranks No. 13 in the country and No. 4 in the Big Ten.
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