Many wondered if the Wisconsin Badgers would feel a bump on the recruiting trail thanks to back-to-back Final Four appearances. What really mattered most was apparently hiring the lead assistant coach to be the head coach.
On Monday, the Badgers added a 2017 commitment from 4-star point guard Brad Davison out of Osseo (Minn.) Maple Grove high school, per our recruiting partners at Badger247. It was a huge get for the Badgers, who only offered him back in early June.
Since then, Davison visited the UW campus for a second time and appeared to fall in love with a program that has stayed after him on the recruiting trail for years. In fact, it was the relationship with Gard, who used to be his lead recruiter as an assistant coach, that seemed to put things over the edge.
“One thing that really stands out to me is they’ve been there since the beginning,” he said. “I’ve been talking to coach Gard and coach Krabbenhoft since ninth grade. Every time I talk to them, they’ve been great to me for a long time. They’ve been there.
“I think the biggest thing is because they’ve been there so long, I have a really strong relationship with them. I feel like we have a really, really good relationship.”
Davison had plenty of interest from around the country, but chose the Badgers over offers from the likes of Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, Butler, Stanford, and others.
Stanford had gotten a hard look from the No. 20-ranked point guard in the country, but the relationship with the staff and the feeling he got on campus and from the fans during his recruitment won the day.
Wisconsin decided to offer Davison after seeing him break out in the EYBL this spring. According to Badger247, Davison averaged 17.0 points per game on 51.2 percent shooting, including 43.5 percent from three-point range during the spring AAU session.
He comes to the Badgers as the No. 89 ranked player in the country and sets up the Badgers for one of, if not the best single recruiting class in school history.
Davison is joined by shooting guard Kobe King and 6-9 forward Nathan Reuvers in the three-man class and is likely the only signees Wisconsin will have in the 2017 class. It just so happens that all three of them are 4-star players.
With a hugely impressive group of players in the state of Wisconsin for the 2018 class, the Badgers are likely to take the remaining open scholarship and bank it for that class. It will also help to even out the overall class numbers going forward.
It all adds up to the Badgers having the No. 3 ranked class in the country at this point, topping the previous high of No. 22 in the 2006 class that included Trevon Hughes, Jason Bohannon and J.P. Gavinski.
Most impressively, both Reuvers and Davison were added to the class after Gard was named the head coach back in March of this year.
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