Why Wisconsin Is Laser-Focused on In-State Recruiting in 2025
In-state recruiting will have an extra layer of importance for Wisconsin basketball in 2025.
Greg Gard and the Wisconsin basketball program might not be finished with their 2024 recruiting class just yet, considering the Badgers are hosting five-star wing Kon Knueppel on an official visit in September.
However, the Badgers already have a head start on the 2025 cycle, holding a commitment from three-star guard Zach Kinziger from De Pere, Wisconsin. But Kinziger is hardly the only in-state product in the 2025 recruiting class UW's staff has their eyes on.
Let's dive into the topic of in-state recruiting in college basketball and identify some of the Badgers targets from the 2025 class with whom they've expressed interest & where things stand.
Addressing In-State Recruiting as It Pertains to the Wisconsin Badgers
In-state recruiting has been a bit of a taboo discussion amongst the Badgers faithful the last few seasons. Before landing Zach Kinziger, Greg Gard hadn't secured a commitment from a scholarship Wisconsinite since Johnny & Jordan Davis in the 2020 cycle.
But anyone who follows my work knows my stance. In-state recruiting is important to some degree and can give you a leg up against blue-bloods occasionally. But football and basketball recruiting are incredibly different because of how involved AAU programs are in peddling their athletes.
That's why you'll notice that a lot of schools, particularly the Wisconsin basketball team, net most of their recruits from the same couple of AAU programs. Howard Pulley, Wisconsin Playground, D1 Minnesota, and the Illinois Wolves are a few that come to mind. There are obviously outliers, but these partnerships are often mutually beneficial and have a certain layer of trust that coaches gravitate toward.
Plus, if the Badgers can continue to pillage the talent-rich state of Minnesota the way they have been for the last two decades and treat that as their version of in-state recruiting, who cares?
But I digress...
Wisconsin Has a Dynamic 2025 In-State Recruiting Class
Getting back to the 2025 in-state class, it's clear that Coach Gard and his staff have emphasized building early relationships with some of their homegrown players to try and steer them toward The Kohl Center.