What you need to know about the Badgers' 2025 commit.

Wisconsin has nine verbal commitments to the Class of 2025, which ranks eighth in the nation. – Artist: Rivals and 247 sports. Badgers are 23rd on On3..

As of Saturday, only four programs had more verbal commitments than the Badgers in the 2025 class: Notre Dame (17), Penn State (11), Clemson (10) and LSU (10). is.

Wisconsin held just three 2024 Promise — Quarterback Marbrey Mettauer and tight ends Grant Steck and Rob Booker II. — At this time last year.

Here are five early takeaways from Wisconsin's current 2025 efforts.

Wisconsin held Junior Day events on Jan. 13, Feb. 3 and Feb. 4, allowing the state to host a limited number of recruits in an environment that essentially mimics an official visit. The Badgers started the year with four commitments in 2025 and have more than doubled that since then.

All five rookies who have announced their intentions to come to Wisconsin since January include defensive backs Cody Haddad and Jaimir Scott; outside linebacker brenden anz and Samuel Latteju and defensive lineman Torin Pettaway were in attendance for the day. Three-star inside linebacker Cooper Catalano visited Madison last year for one of the Junior Day events.

The Badgers signed several 2024 recruits who were uncommitted before participating in the program's Junior Day event last year: Steck, Booker, offensive linemen Collin Kaberly and Derek Jensen, and linebacker Landon. – Gauthier and Thomas Highberger, wide receiver Kai'an Berry-Johnson and running back Darion Dupree.

The Badgers signed three in-state scholarship players for the 2024 class: Booker, Gauthier and Jensen. Of the nine 2025 starters, three have already decided to stay home: Catalano (Germantown), Pettaway (Middleton) and offensive lineman Michael Roske (Wautoma).

Wisconsin beat Notre Dame for Roethke, scoring an important recruiting victory, but the Fighting Irish advanced during the 2025 cycle. Consensus four-star offensive lineman Owen Stbig announced his transfer to Notre Dame in February, and legacy four-star tight end James Flannigan will also be headed to South Bend.

Other notable in-state recruits include Verona four-star cornerback Tre Potate and kicker Eric Schmidt. Poteat is a popular defensive back across the country and would be a big win for the Wisconsin staff. Schmidt, one of the nation's top specialists in the 2025 class, holds a preferred walk-on offer from the Badgers.

Seven of the nine commitments are expected to help Mike Tressel's defense, with the most mentioned role so far being in the secondary. Three projected defensive backs, Haddad, Scott and Remington Moss, have announced their intention to play for the Badgers, and all are rated as four-star recruits by at least one media outlet.

Haddad's recruiting process will be worth watching, as he has announced offers from Iowa State, Texas A&M, his hometown Ohio State and Michigan State after committing to Wisconsin.

Wisconsin signed two four-star outside linebackers, Thomas Highberger and Anel Raffaele, who both enrolled in early January. The Badgers already have two 2025 outside linebacker commitments in La Teju (New Jersey via Nigeria) and Anes (Tennessee).

Wisconsin director of player personnel Max Stinecker praised outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator Matt Mitchell in February.

“H“He's a workhorse,” Stienecker said. “And you'll see him make new strides. He's going to be an asset for us, obviously as a coach, but also as a recruiter.”

The program also has strong 2025 four-star outside linebacker Jaden Woods, who took a Junior Day visit in early February. He has the Badgers among his top 13 programs and is scheduled to take an official visit to Madison in late May.

Pettaway and Latteju, who announced their commitments in early March, both fit the criteria of length and athleticism, two themes mentioned during Wisconsin's 2024 early signing period press conference. Neither player also spends much time playing organized 11-on-11 soccer.

Lateju, a native of Nigeria, has played the past two seasons at Lawrenceville School in New Jersey. The outside linebacker is expected to be about 6-foot-5 and weigh 235 pounds, according to Lawrenceville School coach Napoleon Sykes Jr.

Pettaway, who is 6-5 and weighs 275 pounds, decided to try football before the 2023 season after playing basketball. He has tweeted seven Big Ten offers since Jan. 22, before making a relatively quick decision to commit to a local school this month.

“So, (Pettaway's) strength is the fact that he became an all-conference, all-region player without ever playing football before the season, and his growth is that he only played one year of football. To be an all-region, all-conference player just by playing that game,” Middleton co-football coach Tim Simon said. “So if he continues to develop his strength and skills – which he has done in our weight room and is clearly ready for the upcoming season – I wouldn’t say the sky is the limit. No, it will be overworked, but his limits are beyond reach even this year.

“That's why so many college coaches were so eager to scout him because he was such an overwhelming player, with only two and a half months of soccer experience, no camp, no first year (no playing), etc. So the fact that he's looking this good two and a half months into the season excites us and the Badgers coaches, among other coaches recruiting him. , I think we're excited about what this kid is going to be.”