Wisconsin Football Recruiting: Updates on Tino Ellis, Craig Watts and new offers.

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Andrew Rosin

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Updates on some highly touted recruits who may find their way to Wisconsin this summer for visits

One of the trend lines we've seen from the Wisconsin Badgers is that they've been offering some of the great names of the high school football season. You've seen offers go out to names like Neru N'Shaka, Pookie Maka, and of course, Jango Glackin.

But they do have a recent offer that just might beat them all.

That is, what is known as a tease. Why? Because there's news of people coming to visit who just might commit as well as people who the Badgers might be in better position with than you think.

The latest on...


Tino Ellis: The 247Sports' composite four-star Hyattsville, (DeMatha Catholic), Md. wide receiver is looking like he's going to be moving into decision making mode sooner rather than later. 247Sports does note on his profile he will make a commitment on July 31. Ellis recently spoke to Evan Flood in a Badger247 interview ($). Ellis notes in the interview, which can be downloaded on iTunes without VIP access, that the plan before then will include a date to visit Madison during the time when Madison is at its peak. He's probably not going to throw out a top five or three or whatever until its really close to being ready, so watch this space.

Craig Watts Jr.: This composite four-star safety who recently transferred to Admiral Farragut in St. Petersburg, Fla. was considered something of a "well that's nice, but I don't think the Badgers have a chance here" upon first news of the offer. After all, an offer sheet that included Alabama, Florida State, Notre Dame, and Ohio State is a sheet that is going to be tough to beat. Then, it was reported per 247Sports' Chris Nee that Craig Watts was coming up to Madison for the two-day camp and stay from June 20 to June 22.

And yes, in and of itself that is a win -- but click on this offer sheet link on 247Sports. You notice something interesting? He has Alabama and Ohio State in that top 4 known as "warm." The other two are Colorado and Indiana. This is the sort of thing that may tell you that some of your more named schools aren't looking to take that for which they have offered.

The Badgers have a situation that they both have the positional need and scholarship space that would make Watts an automatic take -- and in a scenario where Watts wants to end his commitment on July 14, the Badgers could find themselves being in a position to land themselves a player that would be a potential fifth linebacker in any 3-4 defense. It's no sure thing, but the Badgers have gone from an afterthought to a sneaky contender.



Jake Funk: Speaking of safeties who could well play as or become linebackers, let's talk about Damascus, Md.'s Jake Funk. Not just because he is one of the best prospects to be named after a genre of music in this years high school class, but because he is among the group of prospects set to camp in Madison this weekend. Now I'm not going to tell you that it's time to put Jake Funk on commit alert. because the plan is that he's going all the way across the country to camp and potentially earn an offer from Stanford.

But this looks like a situation where the Badgers are looking to see if Jake Funk might be a good inside linebacker($), and if that's the case, the inside linebacker board, even without Glackin, is a position that is as clear as mud. They have multiple prospects with interest, and they apparently want to take one. Not to say that this isn't subject to change. Funk is smart and has a sideline to sideline agility. A good camp and we got a But this might be a case where some process enjoying might be a risk the Badgers are willing to take.

New Offer


ATH Lil'Jordan Humphrey
6'4 192 lbs.
Southlake (Carroll), Tex.


Yeah, I know right? That name's pretty swell.. You want to know the crazy thing? He's a really good running back.

Not to tell you that there's not a position switch in his future, because let's be honest, he's got a lot of space for linebackers to hit going downhill. He's probably looking at a future as a pass catcher, and the Hudl Profile shows you that he's got some soft hands -- though the route tree is basically the short stuff and the hey we're going deep and let's see what you can do in getting it.

He also has an offer list that if the Badgers decide they want Lil'Jordan, they have a real chance to make a dent in getting him to commit. He has offers from Duke, Ole Miss, Texas, and Washington. Texas is an offer you always have to consider worrisome, but the Longhorns are down, I mean, Jordan Stevenson happened.

But either way, this is a really good athlete, a smart team will find a spot for him to make with the success.

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