While the powerhouse programs have been grabbing top-tier recruits, Greg Gard and Wisconsin Basketball have quietly added players of their own for the 2020 class.
Wisconsin Basketball has been a model of consistency throughout the 2000’s. Despite a style of play that has sometimes been criticized nationally, the Badgers have won 20 or more games in 16 of the past 20 seasons. For fans of the Badgers, most would admit that the recruiting trail isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think of coach Greg Gard. However, Gard managed to do something in the past few weeks that may have flown under the radar nationally. He’s quietly had one of the most successful recruiting periods in the history of the program. Let’s take a look.
On September 17, 6’9” big man Steven Crowl committed to the Badgers. Crowl, from St. Paul, MN, is ranked 102nd nationally by 247 Sports and is a 4-star recruit. Given the Badgers history with developing big men (Jon Leuer, Frank Kaminsky, Ethan Happ), the Badgers emerged from a list of Iowa, Colorado, and a late push from Minnesota.
A day later, Crowl’s travel teammate from D1 Minnesota, Ben Carlson, a 6’9” power forward, gave Gard his second commitment of the week. Carlson is ranked 87th in the country, highly skilled for his size, and is built for the Big Ten.
Despite the monster week, Gard wasn’t done. On September 29, he reeled in two more in the 2021 class. 6’7” Matthew Mors, ranked 104th in his class, picked the Badgers over Iowa, Iowa State, Creighton, and Colorado.
Next, Nebraska point guard Chucky Hepburn, ranked 142nd, became the 4th Badger in September. Hepburn compares favorably to former Badgers guard, Jordan Taylor.
Let’s also not forget Chris Hodges, the 6’8” power forward, who comes in at 135th in the 2021 class. Hodges gave his pledge in August.
Five commits in two months. Sure, it’s good. But how good? To put things in perspective, Scout.com started ranking players in 2001 (they were bought by 247 Sports in 2017). Essentially, every Badger since is ranked according to their overall class ranking coming out of high school. If you assume 15 players on the team every year for 19 seasons, that’s 285 players. Of those 285, these five recruits are all in the top 27, with Carlson being the highest-rated Badger pledge at #8.
For a program that prides itself on development, this kind of talent is rare in Madison and sets the Badgers up remarkably well for the near future.