MADISON, Wis. – It’s clear the direction Luke Fickell intends to push the University of Wisconsin in the recruiting classes to come
After quickly cobbling together a small recruiting class in less than a month after being hired, Fickell and his staff scoured the country to recruit and receive commitments from 20 known prospects combining physicality, speed, and play-making abilities.
Half the Badgers class comprises four-star recruits, which is why it currently is ranked 20th in the country by Rivals.com, and addressed depth needs and deficiencies at every position. Adding to the depth at running back, we look at the upcoming signing of Chicago Mount Carmel's Darrion Dupree and how his addition improves the program.
Stats
Dupree was a two-way player from the time the explosive weapon for Mount Carmel’s offense starting as a sophomore at running back and playing defensive back. After his team went 8-4 as a sophomore, Mount Carmel went 14-0 and won the Class 7A state championship, a bittersweet moment for Dupree considering he missed the team’s playoff run with a toe injury.
That put him on a mission in his final season. After beating nationally ranked East St. Louis in the season opener, accruing 122 yards and two touchdowns on 26 touches, Dupree helped Mount Carmel go 8-1 in the regular season.
He found another gear in the playoffs. He scored four touchdowns in the first 14 minutes of the state semifinals, finishing with 174 yards on six touches.
In his final high school game, Dupree caught seven passes for 60 yards and rushed the ball 12 times for 78 yards in a 35-10 victory.
Helping his team outscore five playoff teams 248-75, Dupree finished the season with 1,056 yards rushing, 704 receiving, and 24 total touchdowns.
“My year went great,” Dupree said. “I got past my goal, which was to be over 1,000 rushing yards. I haven’t done that playing high school football, so I am really proud of myself. In week three, that’s when I started to pick it up a notch, started playing different. In week two, we played down a little bit to ourselves. It made me mad. It just changed me as a person and changed us as a team.”
Recruiting Competition
The 16th commitment in Wisconsin’s 2024 class, Dupree committed to the Badgers over finalists Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri. He had over 30 offers during his recruitment, including Power-Five offers from Kansas, Kansas State, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Purdue, Rutgers, Syracuse, Washington, and West Virginia. Following his commitment, he picked up an offer from Alabama.
