Wisconsin Badgers 2026 recruiting class moving up in national rankings after official visits

The month of June has been good to Luke Fickell and the University of Wisconsin football program on the recruiting trail, though there's still work to be done.

Wisconsin's taken advantage of three weekends of official visits in adding to its 2026 class, and the Badgers have moved up nationally as a result. Seven recruits have announced their verbal commitments since the weekend of May 29-June 1, though projected outside linebacker Carmelow Reed flipped to Mississippi during that time.

The most recent Wisconsin commit is wide receiver Zion Legree, a four-star recruit by Rivals, who posted his announcement via On3 on Sunday.

Wisconsin holds 13 recruits in its 2026 class as of June 18, which according to 247Sports, ranks tied for 11th among Big Ten teams for number of commits.

Fickell and his staff still have several key targets that have not announced a decision, such asfour-star wide receiver Jayden Petit (Naples St. John Neumann, Florida), outside linebacker Jackson Samuels Ford (Malvern Prep, Pennsylvania) andrunning back Amari Latimer (Tyrone Sandy Creek, Georgia), among others.

Wisconsin Badgers On SI most recently took a look at where the program stood nationally and among conference rivals as of late May. Here's where it stands as of 2:30 p.m. on June 18.

On3 Industry Rankings

On3 Industry rankings	Rank/Notes
Ranking nationally/Big Ten	No. 40/No. 14 of 18
Wisconsin's average score per recruit	86.82 (all three-star recruits)
Wisconsin's average ranking per recruit	86.66
Highest-rated recruit	LB Aden Reeder (88.38)
Which Big Ten schools are ahead of Wisconsin	USC, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, UCLA, Washington, Michigan, Illinois, Rutgers, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State

Wisconsin's moved up four places nationally since May 26 but still ranks in the same spot within the Big Ten since our last check in.

The acquisition of Rivals by On3 will result in some significant changes. On3 will no longer have its own individual rankings, according to CEO Shannon Terry, but it will update its algorithm for its "Industry" ranking.

More details on the @Rivals integration with @On3sports coming in July ... pic.twitter.com/VouTsUWixq
— Shannon Terry (@ShannonTerry) May 25, 2025

247Sports Composite Rankings

247Sports composite rankings	Rank/Notes
Ranking nationally/Big Ten	No. 35/No. 11
Wisconsin's average rating per recruit	87.20
Highest-rated recruit	QB Ryan Hopkins (0.8875)
Which Big Ten schools are ahead of Wisconsin	USC, Ohio State, Penn State, Illinois, Rutgers, UCLA, Minnesota, Washington, Michigan State, Indiana

The Badgers moved up nine spots in the country and two place in the Big Ten since our last check in.

247Sports has its own standalone ranking and an algorithm that calculates the outlets' individual evaluations and combines them into one (the "composite" ranking). Looking at 247Sports' standalone evaluations, safety Zachary Taylor is the highest-rated recruit with an 89 rating.

Rivals

Rivals	Rank/Notes
Ranking nationally/Big Ten	No. 36/No. 13
Wisconsin's average rating per recruit	3.15 (two four-stars, 11 three-stars)
Highest-rated recruit	WR Zion Legree (No. 220 player in the country, No. 28 wide receiver)
Which Big Ten schools are ahead of Wisconsin	USC, Ohio State, Illinois, Penn State, UCLA, Rutgers, Minnesota, Michigan State, Washington, Indiana, Michigan, Oregon

Fickell and Wisconsin jumped nine spots overall but are still at No. 13 in the conference as of June 18.

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4-star 'playmaker' quarterback after Wisconsin football camp: 'I feel like I got better today'

WATCH: Bruising linemen 1-on-1s, big quarterback throws stand out at Wisconsin Badgers' third summer football camp

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