If you have heard anything about Wisconsin’s 2021 recruiting class, it is likely that someone told you that the Badgers currently have the number one class in the Big Ten Conference, and the country. The class is currently made up of three four-star recruits, Matthew Mors, Chucky Hepburn, and Chris Hodges, who all committed late into the summer of 2019. Yes, this is currently the number one class in the country according to 247sports. That is not a typo.
But does that matter on March 27th, 2020? Yes and no. Sure, it would feel ridiculous to put weight behind the Badgers having a chance at having even a top-5 nationally ranked class at this early stage. Given that on ESPN’s list of the top-60 players in the class of 2021 not one has committed, we are still very early in the 2021 recruiting process.
Just because most top players have yet to commit does not take away from the three excellent pieces that UW already has commitments from. Me and every other college basketball writer should be comfortable going on the record to say Wisconsin will not have the top recruiting class in the country when this is all said and done, but the three four-star commits are all going to be key pieces for Greg Gard and the Badgers moving forward.
Two of the three commits were named as their respective Gatorade state player’s of the year yesterday. The 6-7 forward Mors took home the honor in South Dakota, while Hepburn was given the award in his home state of Nebraska. Mors led his Yankton High School squad to a 17-4 record, finishing the year averaging 19.5 points and 8.5 boards. The 6-1 point guard Hepburn led his Bellevue West team to a state championship, averaging 17.3 points, 6.5 assists, and 4.6 rebounds as a junior.
The third verbal commit, Chris Hodges, also had a winning junior season at Schaumburg high school in Illinois. His Schaumburg Saxons went 25-7 overall and 9-1 in conference play. The 6-8, 235-pound power forward looks like a man amongst boys against most high school juniors.
While fans be unrealistic in expectations of Wisconsin holding on to one of the top spots in the class rankings for 2021, the early foundation sets the stage for the best Badger class of the Gard era in Madison.