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Wisconsin Basketball: Class of 2019 forward Tyler Wahl commits to the Badgers

By Lukas Harkins

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 26: Head coach Greg Gard of the Wisconsin Badgers looks on during the game against the Michigan State Spartans in the second half at the Breslin Center on February 26, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 26: Head coach Greg Gard of the Wisconsin Badgers looks on during the game against the Michigan State Spartans in the second half at the Breslin Center on February 26, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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Wisconsin basketball and Greg Gard just received their first commitment for the 2019 class in the form of 6-foot-7 forward Tyler Wahl from Minnesota.

Barring anyone leaving school early after this coming season, which seems unlikely, Wisconsin had four scholarships available for the 2019 class. The first of these is now filled thanks to a commitment from Minnesota native Tyler Wahl. The Badgers offered a scholarship to Wahl on April 23, almost exactly two months before his commitment. A reasonably highly-regarded recruit, the 6-foot-7 Wahl is a former high school teammate of current Badger Nathan Reuvers and this seems like an excellent fit.

Speaking of high school basketball, Wahl was solid as a junior this past season. While playing for Lakeville North, he averaged 17.2 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game. Although not known as a tremendous shooter (4-for-18, 22.2% from three), Wahl made up for that by finishing well within the 3-point arc. In total, he shot 63.1% from the field on the season.

Wahl is rated as a four-star prospect and ranked at No. 125 in the 2019 class, according to 247Sports. Even though this is the first commitment in the 2019 class for Wisconsin, Wahl propels the class to the No. 22 spot in the nation’s team rankings. This is obviously subject to change as more teams receive their first commitments.

Wisconsin has had extensive success with players from their neighboring state in the past. It is good to see that the recruiting pipeline that former coach Bo Ryan had developed for the Badgers is continuing under Greg Gard. Since 2015, Wisconsin has now acquired five players from the Land of 10,000 Lakes: Wahl, Brad Davison, Walt McGrory, Alex Illikainen, and Joe Hedstrom. Considering Gard was an important recruiter as an assistant for Coach Ryan, this does not come as much of a surprise. In the case of Wahl, the lead recruiter for Wisconsin was Joe Krabbenhoft.

One of the important factors in securing this commitment early in the recruiting period for the 2019 class is the effect it might have on bringing in more players. As mentioned earlier, Wisconsin still has three open scholarships for the class and there are several highly-touted recruits that Coach Gard and company are looking to hopefully bring in. At the forefront of this group is possibly Zeke Nnaji, an AAU teammate of Wahl. These two play together for D1 Minnesota.

https://twitter.com/tjwahl01/status/1009929974919368704

Next: Way-too-early 2019 Bracketology

This is an awesome commitment for Wisconsin to get started in the 2019 class. With three scholarships potentially available for new players to join for the 2019-20 season, it will be interesting to see who will become the new top priority for Coach Gard. Will a 2019 player take precedence over star 2020 recruit Jalen Johnson or will the program immediately put their chips on the top player in the state of Wisconsin?

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