Badger Watch 3: Defensive backs
With the regular season over and just a few weeks left before Signing Day, Wisconsin has a better idea of what its 2014 recruiting class will look like. Over the next two weeks, BadgerBlitz.com will reanalyze UW's recruiting efforts with a position-by-position breakdown of targets to see how the Badgers will fill their 2014 class.
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Today, we provide a final look at the defensive backs.
1. Last update: Badger Watch: Defensive backs (7/15/13)
2. What's happened since July?
Defensive back has been one of the more interesting positions to follow in this class. This is the one area where the Badgers have missed out on a handful of their top targets, and still have a good amount of uncertainty.
At safety, Wisconsin secured a commitment from Florida's Austin Hudson over the summer, which currently looks like a major steal. Hudson, 6-foot-2, 188 pounds, has since received offers from SEC schools Georgia and Missouri, but remains very solid to UW. He plans to enroll at Wisconsin this spring.
"The (official) visit totally reaffirmed the feelings I had for Wisconsin when I camped and committed there," Hudson told BadgerBlitz.com. "I'm 100 percent committed to Wisconsin and there's no chance I don't end up there this spring."
The Badgers later added a second projected safety when two-star Everett, Mass., native Lubern Figaro committed to Wisconsin over Michigan State, Syracuse and Vanderbilt, among others.
Finally, UW likely finalized things at the position with a commitment from junior college athlete Serge Trezy.
A 6-foot-2, 217-pound prospect from Thatcher (AZ) Eastern Arizona J.C., Trezy chose UW over offers from Southern Miss., Utah and Cincinnati, among others. He will have two years of eligibility remaining and is expected to graduate this spring and enroll at Wisconsin this summer
"They (Wisconsin) are brining me in as a safety, but they think I can return kicks if needed," Trezy told BadgerBlitz.com. "Coach (Gary) Andersen was real happy. He said that I will be a big impact for the team."
The staff also wants to add two cornerbacks to this class, and so far have not had any luck. It appeared Wisconsin was favored by junior college prospects Demarlon Morris (uncommitted) and Keishawn Richardson (West Virginia), as well as Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native Deion Hallmon (uncommitted), but for one reason or another it doesn't look like any will play their college ball in Madison.
3. What happens next?
The two major cornerback targets on Wisconsin's board are Florida commit Chris Lammons and USF commit Deiondre Porter. Lammons has already visited Madison officially and the Badgers are continuing to put on the full-court pressure, while Porter, who played quarterback in high school, is set to visit Madison in January.
"Wisconsin wants me to come up there and play defensive back for them," Porter told BadgerBlitz.com. "They think I can be a lockdown cornerback for them. They think I can make an impact for them right away."
"They said they love my athleticism, my speed and the fact that I'm smart on the field. They think I have an NFL-type body at the cornerback position and I can be an asset to their team. I'm real open and interested in Wisconsin. It's a big-time school with a high-powered offense. Their defense is playing very well this year and I'm interested."
The Badgers are also still in contention for Andre Godfrey and D'cota Dixon, who could play either spot in the secondary. Godfrey is set to take his final visit to UCLA on Jan. 17, and will likely select from UCLA, Utah or Wisconsin soon after.
Dixon, meanwhile, will be visiting Madison in January. His top group is less clear-cut.
4. Class Prediction:
It's tough to like the Badgers' chances with any of the four players listed above. While Lammons has been flirting with the idea of a flip, odds are strongly in favor of him remaining with Florida. The other three are more likely, and we'll know a lot more after Porter and Dixon visit Wisconsin in January.
For now, I will tentatively predict that Porter flips to Wisconsin, but I wouldn't be surprised to see more offers extended to defensive backs in the coming days and weeks.
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