Tag: Big Ten Recruiting

Wisconsin offers four-star edge rusher from Illinois

The Badgers offered Marquise Lightfoot, a three-star edge rusher from Chicago on Thursday.

Wisconsin offered Marquise Lightfoot, a 6-foot-5, 215 pound edge rusher from Chicago, Illinois on Thursday. Lightfoot is a four-star athlete from the class of 2024 and still has one more year of high school football at Kenwood Academy before potentially joining the collegiate level.

The Badgers were the 33rd team to offer the talented junior, joining multiple Big Ten schools including Michigan, Minnesota and Nebraska.

To this point, Wisconsin has secured two commitments for the class of 2024, already adding cornerback Austin Alexander (Chicago Heights, Illinois) and four-star quarterback Mabrey Mattauer (The Woodlands, Texas). In addition to Alexander and Lightfoot, the Badgers also offered three-star athlete Tysean Griffin from Chicago on Thursday, showing a commitment to recruiting in the Windy City under new head coach Luke Fickell.

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Big Ten football: Ranking the 2023 recruiting classes

Who led the way in 2023?

It was a busy few weeks for Wisconsin on the recruiting front, with most of their action coming in the transfer portal.

The Badgers headlined their week by landing SMU transfer quarterback Tanner Mordecai, who will likely be the starting quarterback come Week 1 of 2023.

As far as the high school classes go, Wisconsin underwent a coaching change near the end of the recruiting cycle.

Where do the Big Ten programs stand in 2023 recruiting rankings? You won’t be shocked at who stands at the top. Here is a look at the current Big Ten recruiting rankings by team according to On3 Sports.

Updated Big Ten football recruiting rankings ahead of the early signing period

Which Big Ten team will finish with the top recruiting class? #GoBucks

We are still a couple of weeks away from the official early signing period for college football, and that means things are going to be heating up with news of commitments, flips, and high-stakes drama when it comes to your favorite team. And since you are here, we feel pretty good about your Big Ten and Ohio State fandom.

The Buckeyes have owned the Big Ten in football recruiting over the last couple of decades and it’s shaping up to be that way again in 2023, though there does seem to be a wee bit of momentum lost in comparison to the years leading up to the 2023 recruiting cycle.

Either way, the big programs sign most of their recruits in the early signing period now, and the date of December 21 will be upon us very, very soon. As such, we thought we’d check in on how the Big Ten football recruiting rankings are shaping up as things hit the home stretch.

Here’s an updated look at where all the Big Ten teams are ranked in bringing in the players to make a move on the football field in 2023 according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Huskers offer 3-star RB from Illinois

The Nebraska Cornhuskers extended an offer to Andre Crews, a class of 2023 3-star running back/cornerback from Chicago Simeon High School in Illinois on Monday. 

The Nebraska Cornhuskers extended an offer to Andre Crews, a class of 2023 3-star running back/cornerback from Chicago Simeon High School in Illinois on Monday.

Crews is a 5-foot-9, 180-pound back that is the 123rd-ranked running back and 44th-ranked overall recruit in Illinois by 247 Sports. 

Nebraska is one of his more significant offers so far, but Crews has also received interest from Wisconsin, Kentucky, Air Force, Akron and a handful of FCS programs. The Huskers do not currently have a running back commit in their 2023 class.

So far this season, he has rushed 107 times for 1,408 yards and 24 touchdowns through eight games of the Illinois high school football season. Simeon, which is also the alma mater of current Husker wideout Alante Brown,  is 8-0 and looks to polish off an undefeated regular season with a Week 9 tilt against Lane Tech.

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Each Big Ten team’s top recruit in the class of 2023

The latest look at the Power 5 conference’s recruiting race

Michigan and Ohio State are still undefeated and on top of the Big Ten so far in 2022. The race to crown the king of next year’s recruiting class is still very much undecided, though.

Let’s look at the highest-ranked commit in each Big Ten program’s 2023 recruiting class.

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How 2023 Husker football commits are faring so far

If the Huskers can hang onto this group of commits, the future looks bright.

Despite the loss of former head coach Scott Frost, the Nebraska Cornhuskers have 13 commits in their upcoming recruiting class. That bunch have been putting up strong numbers so far with most states’ high school football seasons just past the midway point.

Leading the way in Nebraska’s class of 2023 are 4-star recruits Omarion Miller, a 6-foot-2 wide receiver out of North Caddo (Vivian, LA) High School and Riley van Poppel, a 6-foot-4, 270-pound interior offensive lineman from Argyle (Argyle, TX) High School.

Both are ranked in the top 30 nationally at their position, according to 247 Sports, but they are far from the only future Huskers making an impact. Obviously, the world of recruiting is never 100% stable, especially after the firing of a head coach, so Mickey Joseph and the rest of the Huskers coaching staff will need to have good conversations with their commits to ensure they plan to stay.

Each recruit’s highlights and stats (if applicable and available), are listed below:

Updated Big Ten football recruiting rankings for early August

An updated look at who is recruiting best on the gridiron in the Big Ten for the 2023 cycle. #B1G

Recruiting is the lifeblood of any college football program. Sure, you can find a diamond in the rough every once in a while and develop him into something special, but, by and large, the teams that attract the top talent win the most.

Ohio State is routinely among the top in the nation when it comes to luring the best high school football prospects to the banks of the Olentangy to dance with the rest of the Big Ten and nation every year, and that doesn’t appear to be slowing up anytime soon.

We like to keep an eye on how things are shaping up with the balance of power in the Big Ten, and it looks like Ohio State is once again in fantastic shape with other teams trying to close the gap.

Here’s a look at the Big Ten football team recruiting rankings according to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings as we tick closer to the season in mid-July.

ESPN names Iowa as one of its top schools recruiting offensive linemen

ESPN is showing Iowa’s recruiting efforts some love, naming the Hawkeyes as one of the nation’s top offensive line recruiters.

When you think of Iowa football, your attention doesn’t really go directly to recruiting. While a successful program, the Hawkeyes do not really have the track record of competing with schools the likes of Ohio State for recruit signatures. Coach Kirk Ferentz knows some of the limitations placed on his program as compared to some others. Typically, Ferentz focuses his attention on team building and player development.

Iowa has done very well at identifying three-star athletes who are system and cultural fits, and turning them into the next crop of players. This is mostly how the Hawkeyes have operated for years, with a lot of success, but the gears are starting to turn a bit.

Again, while they may not be able to compete on a consistent basis with the likes of Alabama and Georgia, they have shown the ability to snag a marquee player on top of their typically strong recruiting.

The area where Iowa can really compete is on the offensive line. In Tom VanHaaren of ESPN’s look at which college football teams have been recruiting the best on offense, the Hawkeyes were one of his picks at the offensive line position.

It’s rare to see a head-to-head recruiting battle between Iowa and Alabama, but the Hawkeyes ultimately won out for in-state five-star tackle Kadyn Proctor. The No. 6 recruit overall, Proctor had nearly every major program after him, but ultimately chose Iowa.

Iowa’s staff already has some younger players at tackle on the roster, including Mason Richman, Tyler Elsbury and a few others, so there won’t be a ton of pressure for Proctor play right away if he’s not ready. The staff also has commitments from three-stars Trevor Lauck, Leighton Jones and Cannon Leonard in this class. – VanHaaren, ESPN.

The commitment of Kadyn Proctor is the perfect example of the strides Iowa is making in recruting. They’ve done extremely well on the offensive line and gotten some really solid recruits.

They have gained a trio of three-star recruits in this class in Trevor Lauck, Leighton Jones and Cannon Leonard. Both Mason Richman and Tyler Elsbury are showcasing the patented Hawkeye player-development magic. Richman shows a ton of potential at left tackle, and Elsbury figures to start at left guard this year.

On top of their typical recruiting class, we’ve also seen Iowa nab a dang good offensive lineman in the past two classes. Connor Colby, a guard that should have been mentioned, was a four-star recruit who started a majority of games as a freshman last year.

And then you have Kadyn Proctor. It is rare to see a team like Iowa beat out Alabama for a recruit, especially when you consider that Alabama is also kind of an offensive lineman factory. Of course, he was an in-state player, but it’s hard to turn down Nick Saban when you are a top-10 overall recruit. And yet, Proctor is set to become a Hawkeye.

Iowa may never be able to recruit on a national level with the likes of Alabama, Georgia, or Ohio State. It’s never been their recipe for success. However, it is becoming evident that Iowa can pull top offensive lineman recruits to Iowa City, and the Hawkeyes have a track record of sending them to the league. We’ll have to see if they can bring in more elite tier offensive line recruits like Proctor in the future.

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Updating 11 recent Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball 2022 summer offers

A busy summer has continued over the past month for the Iowa men’s basketball staff. Here’s a look at 11 of their latest offers.

It’s been a busy offseason for the Iowa men’s basketball program. Keegan Murray was drafted No. 4 overall by the Sacramento Kings and has put on a show with his NBA Summer League performances.

Murray’s stardom throughout the Summer League has made Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery look pretty smart with his remarks for any of the immediate naysayers. Murray’s fit with the Kings is looking better every second.

Meanwhile, in Iowa City, the Hawkeyes got great news with the return of Keegan’s twin brother, Kris Murray. Kris is happy with his decision to come back to Iowa for another season and it sets up an opportunity for him to fully showcase everything that he’s capable of as the Hawkeyes’ primary star.

With the potential emergence of Payton Sandfort and more production from Patrick McCaffery, Iowa has the makings of another NCAA Tournament team heading into the 2022-23 men’s basketball season. All in all, it’s a pretty talented projected starting lineup and set of reserves for the Hawkeyes.

Of course, Iowa had some staff changes this summer as well. Courtney Eldridge was elevated to one of the Hawkeyes’ assistant coaches from director of recruiting and player development. That replaced the departure of former assistant coach Billy Taylor.

Then, to replace former assistant coach Kirk Speraw, McCaffery and the Hawkeyes went and found a familiar face in new assistant coach Matt Gatens from Drake. Gatens sounds thrilled with the opportunity to be back in Iowa City.

Finally, Iowa added Tristan Spurlock to the staff as the team’s director of player development.

Of course, while all of this was underway, the staff remained busy on the summer recruiting trail. Hawkeyes Wire detailed a series of seven Iowa basketball offers last month.

That group included 2023 small forward Kaden Cooper, 2023 small forward Jamie Kaiser, 2024 center Raleigh Burgess, 2024 combo guard Nick Janowski, 2024 shooting guard Nojus Indrusaitis, 2024 point guard Travis Perry and 2025 center Kai Rogers.

Of course, Iowa also picked up a commitment from four-star, class of 2024 power forward Cooper Koch out of Peoria Notre Dame High School in Illinois. Koch is rated as a four-star talent, the nation’s No. 51 overall player in the 2024 class, the No. 8 power forward and the No. 4 player from Illinois by 247Sports.

That’s just the tip of the recruiting iceberg. Over the past month, 11 more players across the 2023, 2024 and 2025 recruiting classes have been offered by the Iowa Hawkeyes. Let’s take a look at those 11 players below.

3-star 2023 WR Jarriett Buie Jr. picks up Iowa Hawkeyes offer

Jarriett Buie, a three-star 2023 wide receiver from Tampa, Fla., picked up an offer from the Iowa Hawkeyes.

As Iowa works to put some of the finishing touches on its 2023 recruiting class, Hawkeye wide receivers coach Kelton Copeland and the rest of Iowa’s staff have identified one more playmaker they’d love to add to it.

The Hawkeyes offered class of 2023 wide receiver Jarriett Buie Jr. out of Jesuit High School in Tampa, Fla. The 6-foot-3, 185 pound wide receiver also holds Power Five offers from Duke, Iowa State and West Virginia.

In addition, Buie has offers from Arkansas State, Bowling Green, James Madison, Mercer, Middle Tennessee State, and Toledo.

According to ESPN and On3, Buie is a three-star recruit. ESPN rates Buie as the nation’s No. 140 wide receiver and as the No. 154 player from Florida. Meanwhile, On3 ranks Buie as the No. 144 wide receiver in the 2023 class and as the No. 152 player from Florida.

According to MaxPreps, Buie registered 32 receptions for 402 receiving yards and five touchdowns in 14 games with Jesuit High School in 2021. He averaged 12.6 yards per catch as Jesuit finished a perfect 15-0 and as 6A state champions.

Buie would bring a track and field background to Iowa City if he winds up picking the Hawkeyes. In this past track season with Jesuit, Buie recorded a 100-meter dash of 11.49 seconds.

He would also bring a football background to Iowa City. His father played defensive end at South Florida and spent some time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 2009.

The Hawkeyes’ 2023 class consists of 17 commits and is currently rated as the nation’s No. 16 class by Rivals, the No. 19 class by 247Sports, the No. 21 class by On3 and the No. 24 class by ESPN.

Another wide receiver name to keep an eye on in the 2023 class as the summer begins to come to a close is Bryson Vowell out of Anderson County High School in Clinton, Tenn. He has a crystal ball prediction in to land with Iowa from HawkeyeInsider‘s Sean Bock.

Here’s a look at Buie’s junior season Hudl highlights with Jesuit High School, his full recruiting profile and a glance at the Hawkeyes’ full list of 2023 commits.