Wisconsin Football Recruiting: Visits, Offers April 7-13

Saturday's practice was held on an outdoor field on the north side of Camp Randall Stadium as high temperatures were expected to reach around 70 degrees. The Badgers' recruiting staff is making the most of the weekends because more high school players are able to travel to Madison compared to weekday practices.

Several 2025 recruits have also announced new offers from Wisconsin in recent days, including a couple who appeared at practice last week.

Four observations from Wisconsin football's seventh spring practice

The Badgers currently have no defensive line commitments in the 2025 class, as Middleton's Torin Pettaway transferred to Minnesota late last month. Wisconsin's recruiting staff had already taken in lineman Gordie Salfstead from Cincinnati St. Xavier, and two other recruits had a chance to make a big impression.

Cade Pietrzak He traveled to Wisconsin for a Junior Day event on Feb. 3 and returned to Madison to observe new assistant EJ Whitlow during part of Saturday's practice with Wisconsin recruiting director Pat Lambert. On3 rates the North Dakota State native as a four-star recruit and his No. 167 player in the country. His announced offers include Auburn, Duke, Florida State, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan State, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Southern California, Stanford, Texas A&M and Wisconsin.

Chicago Marist defensive lineman Brad Fitzgibbon returned to Madison after participating in Junior Day events. He tweeted an offer from Wisconsin on Jan. 26, but also announced scholarship opportunities from Arizona State, Iowa State, Kansas State, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, and others. He has already announced official visits to Arizona (weekend April 26-28), Michigan (May 31-June 2), and Kansas (June 7-9). There is.

Wisconsin recruited Indiana hard during the 2025 recruiting cycle. The Badgers extended an offer to Indianapolis Lawrence North wide receiver Davion Chandler, who was on campus last weekend and he immediately prepared to return to Madison for his official visit in June.

Indianapolis Lawrence Central tight end Nigee Davis was participating in Saturday's practice.He is listed at 6-foot-6, 215 pounds in the huddle and The three-star recruit has announced offers from Central Florida, Cincinnati, Duke, Illinois, Louisville, Kansas, Purdue, Vanderbilt, West Virginia and Wisconsin, among others.

Three-star recruit and 2025 commit Brenden Anes returns to Madison for the second time this year. The projected outside linebacker from Tennessee had previously visited during Wisconsin's Junior Day on Jan. 13 and announced his commitment nine days later.

Introducing Brenden Anes, one of Wisconsin football's 2025 linebackers.

Two other 2025 players, Wautoma offensive lineman Michael Roeske (Tuesday) and inside linebacker Cooper Catalano (Thursday), observed practice earlier this week.

Catalano is currently the only inside linebacker in the 2025 class, with Anez and Samur Rateju expected to be the outside linebackers on Wisconsin's defense. Another inside linebacker, Elliott Shaper (Austin Westlake), participated in practice as part of an unofficial visit for several days and announced his offer from the Badgers on Friday.

Shaper's Instagram page Showing Power Four offers from Arizona State, California, and Duke. He has already announced official visits to Duke University (May 31-June 2) and California State (June 6-9), and it remains to be seen whether a round-trip trip to Madison will be booked. It will be interesting to see when it will be booked again.

6 maps illustrating Wisconsin football's recent recruiting efforts

Maryland is another state where Wisconsin has ramped up its recruiting efforts over the past two classes, and defensive back Corey Costner was watching Saturday. On3 rates Costner, who plays out of Baltimore Perry Hall, the highest rated four-star player and the No. 206 player in the 2025 class. He has announced Power Four offers from Indiana, Minnesota, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Penn State, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin, among others.

Wisconsin picked up one offensive lineman Thursday from Paw Paw, Michigan, three-star recruit Darin Storey. He is scheduled to return for an official visit the weekend of June 14-16 after announcing his offer from the Badgers. Another lineman from the state, Jim Harris Jr. (Muskegon), was at practice Saturday. Harris is a three-star recruit from Cincinnati, Indiana, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt and West Virginia, the most notable offers announced by 247Sports and Rivals.

Offensive lineman Bear McWhirter, who has verbally committed to Arkansas starting in August 2023, which is a fairly early commitment for a 2026 recruit, committed during an unofficial visit to Wisconsin this weekend. He was observing assistant AJ Blazek and his position group. The Georgia native holds offers from Alabama, Miami, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Wisconsin and more.

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Landon Brand, a rising outside linebacker from Missouri, announced his first Division I offer last month from Wisconsin, followed by Nebraska, Kansas and Kansas State.

Wisconsin signed four-star outside linebacker Thomas Highberger from Sioux Falls Jefferson as part of the 2024 class, and the freshman is already seeing action on the field. His former teammate, 2026 recruit Edward Whiting, was on campus Saturday.