The Wisconsin Badgers extended an offer to three-star class of 2026 offensive tackle Braden Wilmes on Tuesday.
Wilmes becomes the latest 2026 target to receive an offer from UW, joining wide receivers Kennan and Jarod Pula, interior offensive lineman Samuel Simpson and athlete Sharroid Whitehead over the past few weeks.
The 6-foot-7, 280-pound athlete represents Lawrence Free State High School in Lawrence, Kansas. 247Sports’ composite ranking has Wilmes as the nation’s No. 33 offensive tackle, No. 7 recruit from Kansas and No. 445 recruit in the nation for the class of 2026.
Wilmes has already received offers from seven NCAA Division I programs. Iowa, Minnesota, Arkansas, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Wisconsin round out the list thus far.
247Sports has yet to release a crystal ball prediction, but On3’s recruiting prediction machine projects the OT to land at Iowa. Rivals, on the other hand, has the in-state Kansas Jayhawks as the front-runner.
Extremely excited and grateful to announce that I have received an offer to play football at the University of Wisconsin! Go Badgers! #JumpAroundMadTown@BadgerFootball @CoachBlaz @CaseyRabach_61 @CoachKStew23 pic.twitter.com/qwx1tqR5bw
— Braden Wilmes (@BradenWilmes) June 11, 2024
Excluding Wilmes, Wisconsin has offered 16 offensive tackles for the class of 2026.
Current focus is on Fickell’s class of 2025, which current sits at No. 13 in the nation with 17 total commitments.