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Wisconsin FB News: Badgers Make Cut For 4-Star EDGE Rusher, Mordecai Impressing, More

Your weekly Wisconsin football news recap.

Dillon Graff's avatar
Dillon Graff
Apr 11, 2023
∙ Paid

It’s been a busy couple of days for the Wisconsin football program, ladies and gents, but fear not because BadgerNotes can help get you back up to speed with a roundup of some important news you may have missed.

Wisconsin Makes the Cut for 4-Star EDGE Rusher 

The Wisconsin football program has slowly but surely begun creating a small pipeline at St. Louis High School in Hawaii.

A relationship that started with Nick Herbig and Trech Kekahuna could include another standout from their former high school if the Badgers play their cards right. 

This past week, four-star EDGE rusher Anelu Lafaele out of Honolulu, Hawaii, released a top seven list of Arizona State, Hawaii, Notre Dame, Oregon State, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.  

X avatar for @LafaeleAnelu
Ane1u1afaele@LafaeleAnelu
Thank you to all the coaches that have recruited me, I appreciate the time spent in building relationships. I will be focusing on my Top 7 schools as I get closer to announcing my commitment in July! #AG2G 🙌🏾 @bangulo @BrandonHuffman @247Sports @IkaikaAthletics @tjlafaele
11:10 PM · Apr 5, 2023

114 Reposts · 1.25K Likes

According to 247Sports, Lafaele, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound pass rusher, is the No. 17 EDGE in the country and the No. 2 player in Hawaii. 

His ties to the previous coaching staff and connections to some of the players mentioned above certainly gave Wisconsin football a leg up. 

Still, Luke Fickell and OLB coach Matt Mitchell have done an excellent job of making him feel like a priority which is why Lafaele is taking an official visit to Madison in June. 

The Badgers are in the driver’s seat from everything I’ve heard referencing this specific recruitment.

UW Might Have Struck Gold with Tanner Mordecai

Whether the expectations are fair or not, much of the Wisconsin football program’s success in year one of Luke Fickell’s tenure hinges on the one-year rental of SMU transfer quarterback Tanner Mordecai.

In two seasons starting at SMU, Mordecai threw for 7,152 yards, 72 touchdowns, 22 interceptions, and had a 66.4% completion percentage. He also added 302 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. 

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