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Wisconsin Badgers among 'main' schools for emerging 2026 edge rusher from Texas

The Wisconsin football program was one of the first Power Four schools to contact Ben Duncum. A couple of recent visits by Badgers staff has him set to travel to Madison in the coming weeks.
Jake Kocorowski|
Ben Duncum, from Lake Travis, competes in the shot put during the 6A UIL State Track and Field Championship at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, May 3, 2025.
Ben Duncum, from Lake Travis, competes in the shot put during the 6A UIL State Track and Field Championship at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, May 3, 2025. | Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

The University of Wisconsin football program was one of the first Power Four schools to contact Ben Duncum. A couple of recent visits by Badgers staff has him set to travel to Madison in the coming weeks.

Duncum's a three-star edge rusher by 247Sports who plays for Austin Lake Travis in Texas. He holds offers from schools in all four major conferences, including one from the Badgers in March. He announced Monday his plans to take an official visit to Wisconsin the weekend of June 13-15.

"I've kind of been on the phone with coach (Matt) Mitchell a little bit, and he came in to watch me practice over spring ball," Duncum said. "And then he came to do a home visit with him and coach (E.J.) Whitlow last week, and we were talking about official visits.

"And then we were kind of talking about dates, and I accidentally kind of scheduled one and interfered with our official visit with BYU. But I switched the BYU visit for the Wisconsin visit."

The visits by Wisconsin staff came within a week or two of each other, according to Duncum, and Mitchell and Whitlow met with him and his family. Duncum said he's now 6-foot-6 and between 240-245 pounds.

He lined up on the interior of Lake Travis' defensive line last year, but he's leaned up and improved his strength and speed to play out on the edge. That appears to be where Wisconsin envisions him to play, as Duncum described the role as essentially a strong-side defensive end within the team's adjusted scheme seen in the spring.

"When I was first being recruited by them, it was coach Whitlow that I was more in contact with," Duncum said. "Kind of more of a D-tackle, until they realized that I'm kind of more taller and lengthy, and I changed my body to look more of an edge (rusher). So I'm going to play, I think, more of an edge, outside linebacker for them."

Duncum has seen his recruiting process take off this year, as he's announced Power Four offers from BYU, California, Houston, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma State, Utah and Wisconsin. He's scheduled official visits to Oklahoma State (June 5-7), Wisconsin (June 13-15) and Kentucky (June 20-22), though there could be a fourth one scheduled.

Duncum said he anticipates committing to a program sometime in July. He anticipates waiting until the summer of 2026 to enroll at whichever school he signs with as he hopes to win a state title in shot put next year.

A few factors will be key in his decision.

"The main thing for me is gonna be a coaching staff that's gonna be there my four years, because I don't like the portal," Duncum said. "When I go to a school, I wanna stay there my four years. I don't like how the portal is kind of like you're betraying your school and stuff. So I'm gonna try and look for a staff that really believes in me, kind of believed in me early. I like the schools that really believed in my potential early so that kind of sits with me. That's a big part for me, and I mean, Wisconsin was one of them.

"So I mean, it's really that, coaching staff, and then where they see me in their defense, and kind of the school life, too. Because what? I'm gonna be there for four years. ... My life is gonna be football, but you kind of want to have some fun, too."

The Badgers sit in strong standing as a busy June is forthcoming.

"I'm only picking my top schools that I want to go to for OVs because I'm gonna make my decision kind of soon," Duncum said. "So people that are kind of like in my eyes right now are Oklahoma State, Kentucky and Wisconsin.

"Not in that order, or anything, but I just don't really know yet. But those are kind of like my main ones."

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Jake Kocorowski
JAKE KOCOROWSKI

Jake Kocorowski has covered the Wisconsin football program since the 2013 season for a few outlets, most recently at the Wisconsin State Journal/BadgerExtra. He wrote, directed and edited BadgerExtra’s “Rags to Roses” series about the 1993 Wisconsin football team that won second place in the 2023 APSE Division C Project category.

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