Wisconsin Badgers Have 'Picked Up The Pace' With Recruiting Dominant 4-Star Running Back From Texas

One of the most productive running back recruits in the country is getting some increased attention from the Wisconsin Badgers, who are angling to bring him to Madison.

Four-star prospect Jayshon Gibson from Richland High School in Texas is firmly on the Badgers radar, despite heavy interest from other schools.

According to Rivals national recruiting analyst Sam Spiegelman, Wisconsin has "picked up the pace" on recruiting Gibson over the last month and a half.

There are new frontrunners for multiple 5-stars and blue-chippers in the Rivals300 and the latest on notable flip targets

Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, Nebraska, SMU, Penn State, Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, Texas Tech and Washington are all trending for top prospects

Intel:… pic.twitter.com/RdBQQxj30U
— Sam Spiegelman (@samspiegs) February 23, 2026

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Rivals ranks Gibson as a Top 20 running back and Top 300 player overall in the country for 2027.

It's not hard to see why.

According to Max Preps, he rushed for 2,263 yards and 41 touchdowns this past season, including a playoff game with 321 yards and eight touchdowns.

That's the kind of dominance that the Badgers are used to at the running back position.

Wisconsin is a bit of a late suitor for Gibson's service. They first offered him a scholarship in January and seem to be making good progress, but he has already been heavily recruited by his home-state Texas Tech as well as Arizona State.

Michigan is also getting into the mix, but the Badgers were able to lock him in to an official summer visit for the last weekend of May.

Ready to see what Madison about for my Official Visit on May 28-31 ! @BadgerFootball @CoachJ_Everett @GedKates @RecruitRichland @coachkirk306 @27hometeam @CoachD_Hobbs @coachH2bwill @FlightSkillz @BenjaminGolan @MikeRoach247 @samspiegs pic.twitter.com/dZFNKLRV1K
— Jayshon “Fats” Gibson (@JayshonGibson3) February 22, 2026

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Rivals reports that UW is also hoping to get him to campus for an unofficial visit during the spring.

Luke Fickell tried to land a big fish at running back in the 2026 recruiting class but lost out on 4-star recruit Amari Latimer at the last minute.

Gibson ranks similarly to where Latimer finished last cycle, and the Badgers aren't afraid to swing for the fences once again.

Wisconsin ended up with only one running back in the 2026 class with three-star recruit Qwantavius Wiggins.