Wisconsin's In-State Recruiting Challenges Offer Valuable Learning Opportunity
Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin Badgers coaching staff are taking some heat from the fans for their lack of success in 2024 in-state recruiting.
The Wisconsin football team has a three-decade-long reputation as a program, dating back to the Barry Alvarez era, that's built its rosters foundation by focusing recruiting efforts on keeping in-state prospects home.
UW even managed to sign the No. 1 player in Wisconsin for eight of the past 10 seasons — but the in-state angle looks slightly different in year one under Luke Fickell.
Following a three-star tight end, Robert Booker from Waunakee, flipping his commitment to ULCA, the top six 2024 in-state recruits have all officially committed elsewhere, which is uncharted territory for the Wisconsin football program during the online rankings era.
As it stands, UW has two in-state recruits committed in its 2024 recruiting class, four-star offensive tackle Derek Jensen and three-star inside linebacker Landon Gauthier.
"I think that's, to me, the biggest thing is where maybe we didn't do as good of a job in the state, in particular this year," Fickell told The Athletic. "What I've learned from other guys at other places, sometimes they bail then and say, ok, well, our philosophy is going to be: Recruit the places and the areas we know," he continued. "No. Our philosophy is going to be: Recruit our state first and foremost, our 350-mile radius next."
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Adding Context to the 2024 In-State Recruiting Class
I want to preface anything I'm about to say by acknowledging that there's no way of knowing whether the Wisconsin football program would have landed the top in-state recruits had things played out differently, but the context here is important.
Luke Fickell and his staff don't get a free pass because it's year one — but it will take some time to establish relationships with in-state coaches and programs. And by all accounts, they've done a terrific job making inroads.