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Why this 4-star receiver returned to visit the Wisconsin Badgers this week

Jayden Petit didn't participate in the University of Wisconsin football program's camp Tuesday, but his presence was felt. See why the consensus four-star receiver returned to Madison.
Jake Kocorowski|
Consensus four-star wide receiver Jayden Petit, who was at Wisconsin's camp on June 17, visited the Badgers.
Consensus four-star wide receiver Jayden Petit, who was at Wisconsin's camp on June 17, visited the Badgers. | Courtesy of Jake Kocorowski

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MADISON, Wis. — Jayden Petit didn't participate in the University of Wisconsin football program's camp Tuesday, but his presence was felt.

Petit, a consensus four-star recruit, returned to Wisconsin this week after recently taking his official visit the weekend of May 29-June 1. He was seen around different staff and players both on the Camp Randall Stadium field and within the McClain Center throughout the camp's duration.

He was among several recruits in town from Naples St. John Neumann, which is his new school that he transferred to. He's now coached by former Badgers and NFL safety Chris Maragos.

"I had some teammates going to camp here," Petit said, "But I was like, 'I should just come with them, just to come up and support them.'"

Petit arrived in Madison on Monday and was set to leave Wednesday morning, and it was the fourth time since March that he's visited Wisconsin. He said he didn't learn anything this time around on this most recent trip, but what stood out was the people, from Badgers players to the coaches.

The rapport between Wisconsin and Petit was seen in realtime from the outside looking in. He hung out with wide receivers Eugene Hilton Jr. and Kyan Berry-Johnson in the north end zone of the stadium, along with wide receivers coach Jordan Reid.

"Coach Reid is probably one of the coaches that I have the biggest relationship with, like the strongest relationship with as for receiver coaches," Petit said.

He's already taken official visits to Wisconsin, Oklahoma and North Carolina in recent weeks, and the next one will be to Missouri.

"I still have my Florida one in the season," Petit said. "The UCLA (visit), I don't think I'm gonna go to that one."

Petit's unsure of his timeline to make a decision, and he's still in the process of thinking where Wisconsin stands after taking a busy few weeks and another visit coming shortly. But one Badgers commit for the 2026 class, three-star wide receiver Tayshon Bardo, continues to put on his best recruiter cap..

Bardo posted a graphic Tuesday with him and Petit alongside four-star wide receiver Zion Legree, who recently committed to Wisconsin.

"Tayshon's my guy," Petit said. "Especially from our OVs, first time meeting him in person, we definitely talk on the phone throughout this whole process.

"He's always hitting me up, telling me how I should come over here, but yeah, that's my guy."

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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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