Wisconsin Badgers hand out flurry of football offers to defensive recruits across Rust Belt

At least 11 different football recruits tweeted that they received offers from the Wisconsin Badgers in the last 36 hours, many coming from the same area of the country and same side of the ball.

Wisconsin defensive line coach E.J. Whitlow is shown during spring football practice Thursday, April 3, 2025 in Madison, Wisconsin. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After wrapping up an in-state recruiting blitz last week, some of Luke Fickell's coaching staff seems to be hitting the Rust Belt to find future Wisconsin Badgers.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, at least 11 different recruits from three different graduating classes tweeted out that they received offers from UW. Seven of them hail from the greater rust belt area.

Class	Recruit	Rating	Location
2026	DL Arthur Scott	3-star	Streetsboro, OH
2027	S Davion Jones	4-star	Charlotte, NC
2027	DL Reinaldo Perez	4-star	Columbus, OH
2027	OL Kyler Kuhn	4-star	Kansas City, MO
2027	DB Khalid Rainer	4-star	Richmond, VA
2027	RB Terrance Grant Jr.	3-star	Las Vegas, NV
2027	DB Kenaz Sullivan	3-star	Stafford, VA
2027	DL Stanley Montgomery	Unrated	Philadelphia, PA
2028	DB Langston Pridgeon	Unrated	Ashburn, VA
2028	TE Brady Powell	Unrated	Phoenix, AZ
2028	ATH Ridge Janes	Unrated	St. Louis, MO

2026 3-star defensive lineman Arthur Scott and 2027 4-star defensive linemen Reinaldo Perez both got offers playing in the state of Ohio.

Three defensive backs in Virginia also announced offers, Kenaz Sullivan and Khalild Rainer in the class of 2027 and Langston Pridgeon in the class of 2028.

Add in 2027 defensive lineman Stanley Montgomery from Philadelphia and 2028 athlete Ridge Janes from St. Louis, and you have a clear geographical area that Wisconsin coaches were hitting.

2027 4-star defensive back Davion Jones wasn't too far away in Charlotte, North Carolina either.

With the exception of Janes, the athlete, all of these Rust Belt offers were to defensive linemen and defensive backs, so it's not hard to guess which assistant coaches were on the road.

A few offensive players received offers out west: 2027 3-star running back Terrance Grant Jr. and 2028 tight end Brady Powell, who is the younger brother of Wisconsin freshman Logan Powell.

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