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Wisconsin Badgers secure 2026 TE commit away from in-state offers from Michigan, Michigan State

The Wisconsin Badgers landed a commitment from 3-star tight end recruit Jack Janda, a Michigan native who had offers from the Wolverines and Michigan State, among other Big Ten interest.
Jake Kocorowski|
Novi Detroit Catholic Central‘s Jack Janda stretches out but fails to pull in the pass, while being covered by Cass Tech’s Lamont Wilcoxson in the fourth quarter during MHSAA semifinals at Troy Athens high school on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024.
Novi Detroit Catholic Central‘s Jack Janda stretches out but fails to pull in the pass, while being covered by Cass Tech’s Lamont Wilcoxson in the fourth quarter during MHSAA semifinals at Troy Athens high school on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. | Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

A popular summer official visit weekend again pays off for Luke Fickell and the Wisconsin Badgers.

Jack Janda, who plays for Novi Detroit Catholic Central in Michigan, announced Wednesday his commitment to the Badgers.

Janda is a consensus three-star recruit. ESPN currently evaluates him the highest as the No. 7 tight end and No. 5 player from the state of Michigan in the 2026 class.

He is now the 11th player who is currently committed for Wisconsin's 2026 class.

Busy start to official visit season

Janda was among the approximately 15 recruits to take official visits to Wisconsin the weekend of May 29-June 1. Twelve of them had not disclosed their commitments.

He joined defensive linemen Djidjou Bah (Germantown, Tennessee) and Arthur Scott (Streetsboro, Ohio), linebacker Ben Wenzel (Appleton North) and fellow tight end Jack Sievers (Everett Archbishop Murphy, Washington) as those recruits in town last weekend who have since announced their decisions to play for the Badgers.

Summer official visits like these have been vital to the program's recruiting under Fickell.

Janda had also announced the following Power Four offers during his recruiting process: Cincinnati, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Oregon, Purdue, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Washington and West Virginia.

Dipping into Michigan territory again

Former coach Paul Chryst and his staff found success across Lake Michigan with future starting safety Scott Nelson and offensive lineman Michael Furtney, though the Badgers also signed several others from the Wolverine State who ultimately did not pan out for the program (most notably former five-star offensive lineman Logan Brown).

Fickell and his staff signed walk-on Cody Raymond (Shelby Township Eisenhower) for the 2024 class and four-star offensive lineman Cam Clark (Dexter) during the 2025 early signing period. 

Other previous 2026 targets from the state of Michigan included offensive linemen Ben Nichols and Gregory Patrick, who both committed to Notre Dame.

Another tight end in the fold

The Badgers signed two tight ends in each of the 2024 (Grant Stec and Rob Booker II) and 2025 (Emmett Bork and Nizyi Davis) classes. Janda and Sievers are in line to fill out another complementary pairing for the 2026 cycle.

Janda currently lists himself at 6-foot-6 and 240 pounds on Twitter, offering a frame similar to Stec (listed at 6-foot-6, 255 pounds) and Bork (6-foot-5, 249 pounds).

He could project more to an in-line tight end role. Sievers is listed at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds on Hudl, but according to Athletic.net, he ran an 11.08 100-meter dash on May 21.

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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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