A player such as Class of 2024 small forward Kon Knueppel doesn’t come out of the state of Wisconsin every year. The Milwaukee native is on a meteoric rise entering his senior season. He is a five-star on the 247Sports composite and a top-20 player in the country.
Greg Gard got Knueppel on campus earlier this month as his recruitment heats up at an alarming rate. A commitment to the Badgers would easily mark the biggest recruiting win of Gard’s career, and pair Knueppel with top point guard Daniel Freitag in the class. Not only would it be Gard’s biggest win, it would assemble one of the best classes the program has ever seen.
The recruitment of Knueppel gets tougher by the week, however, as the star small forward continues to rise in the online rankings. The better a prospect becomes, the more blue bloods join the race. That was the case this weekend. Mark Miller of WisSports.net reported Duke, Gonzaga and UCLA are showing strong interest in Knueppel.
Duke, Gonzaga and UCLA among new schools showing strong recruiting interest in senior Kon Knueppel (6-6) of Wisconsin Lutheran High School. #wisbb
— Mark Miller (@WisBBYearbook) June 25, 2023
247Sports’ Evan Flood seconded the report, adding that Knueppel “plans to narrow his list to 5-6 schools in the near future.”
For the first time in a long time, it’s time to switch off Badger football recruiting and turn all eyes to whether Gard can land a career-defining player.