National Signing Day has come and gone and the Wisconsin Badgers have put together a fairly decent class compared to the rest of the Big Ten. In the spirit of looking at recruiting classes compared to the rest of the conference, Badgers Wire is taking a look at Wisconsin’s class on a national level and a conference level. We’ll be including their national rankings and their conference rankings. Next up on the list is one of the Badgers’ losses in 2019. The Illinois Fighting Illini under head coach Lovie Smith, formerly of the Chicago Bears.
The Illini have the nation’s No. 87th-ranked recruiting class in 2020. They are on track for having the No. 61 class in 2021. They finished with the Big Ten’s No. 14 recruiting class with a player average rating of .8490. They’re projected to finish next year with the conference’s 12th-best recruiting class and a per player average of .8366 in the 24/7 composite rankings. Their best player is wide receiver James Frenchie. At 5-foot-9, 175-pounds, Frenchie (.8864) is the No. 6 player in Missouri and the 65th-best wide receiver in the class of 2020.The Badgers (.8782) have a higher per recruit average than the Illini (.8490). The Badgers’ best player in 24/7’s composite rankings is offensive tackle Trey Wedig (.9643). The 6-foot-8, 320-pound behemoth is ranked (.1153) higher than Frenchie for the Illini.
The position both classes compare is at wide receiver. The Badgers signed Chimere Dike (.8727), a 6-foot-0, 185-pound player out of North High in Waukesha, Wis. He’s the No. 93 player at his position in the nation and the fourth-best player coming out of Wisconsin. The Illini signed Lavar Gardner. At 5-foot-11, and 210-pounds, Gardner (.8420) is the nation’s best athlete, but he’s the 30th-best best player in the talent-rich state of Kansas. Recruited by Miles Smith, the Illinois linebackers coach, Gardner is an enormously talented athlete and the sky is the limit for him.