MADISON, Wis. – It turned out that Luke Fickell had no reason to worry.
The University of Wisconsin head coach was hopeful that the results on the field wouldn’t cause members of his highly ranked third recruiting class to start rethinking their commitment or, worse yet, reopen their decision-making process entirely.
From the time the Badgers’ 2024 season ended without a bowl game for the first time in 23 years to the first day of the early signing period, Wisconsin's staff only saw one prospect de-commit. Twenty-three kids signed paperwork to join Fickell’s program, a class that ranks 20th in the Rivals.com rankings with 10 four-star recruits from eight different states.
“To see guys not waver,” Fickell said. “That faith and belief that the games and what you see on Saturday isn’t everything. For those guys to hold with us and believe in us … relationships, trust, and belief in this process still win out.”
Adding to the depth of the secondary, we look at the signing of Mt. Healthy (OH) High safety Jaimier Scott and how his addition improves the program.
Stats
A first-team all-conference selection as a senior, Scott made 93 tackles and seven interceptions his senior season. He added 892 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns on offense. In one game, Scott showed off his versatility with three interceptions and a 70-yard touchdown catch.
“My goal from my junior year to senior year was to make sure my stats were way more than last year,” Scott said. “My tackles last year were up from the 50s and I had only three interceptions as a junior. This past year I broke the school interception record. We made history this year, which was the goal, but we fell short. We wanted to get the ring, but we went 10-3 and fell to a 15-0 team.
“The biggest impact I felt I made was teams ran away from me. I was stopping the run and stopping the pass. Certain games I would lock up the receiver and other games I would get in the box and go after the running back. I felt that was where my biggest impact was.”
Recruiting Competition
The fourth commitment in Wisconsin’s 2025 class, Scott had over two dozen offers, including Power-Four scholarships from Boston College, Cincinnati, Duke, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia.
“People fell back a lot, but Indiana was a big school that was on me a lot, trying to get me to flip a lot,” Scott said. “I was locked in with Wisconsin.”
