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Wisconsin Badgers first transfer portal addition of 2026 is former in-state safety from Iowa State

The Wisconsin Badgers started their transfer portal haul by bringing a former in-state recruit back home after one year away at Iowa State.
Lorin Cox|
Kaukauna High School's Carson Van Dinter (23) is transferring to the Wisconsin Badgers after beginning his college career at Iowa State
Kaukauna High School's Carson Van Dinter (23) is transferring to the Wisconsin Badgers after beginning his college career at Iowa State | Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK

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The Wisconsin Badgers' first addition in the transfer portal is a former in-state recruit who is coming back home.

On Saturday, Iowa State safety Carson Van Dinter became the first transfer portal player to announce his commitment to the Badgers this winter.

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He was a three-star defensive back recruit coming out of Kaukauna High School in Wisconsin's Fox Valley.

Both On3 and 247 Sports ranked him as a Top 150 safety in the country and a Top 20 player in the state in the 2024 class.

Van Dinter redshirted his first year but played in a rotational role for the Cyclones this past fall.

His only true start this season came against Kansas, but he also played significant snaps against TCU, Arizona State, Arizona, South Dakota State and Kansas State.

Related: More signs point to Wisconsin Badgers landing Old Dominion QB Colton Joseph in transfer portal

According to PFF, he played most of his snaps as a strong safety and slot defender, with very few snaps as a free safety back deep.

At Wisconsin, Van Dinter should have the opportunitity to compete to start at strong safety following the graduation of Austin Brown and Owen Arnett along with Preston Zachman's departure in the transfer portal.

The Badgers bring back Matthew Jung and Matthew Traynor as their top two safeties, although the later suffered a torn ACL and could miss significant time this offseason.

Luke Fickell will likely look to bring in even more help to the secondary in the transfer portal, but Van Dinter is the first step toward adding young depth at a position that was too vulnerable in 2025.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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