Greg Gard and his coaching staff at Wisconsin moved at an accelerated pace in their pursuit of Chris Hodges.

That mindset paid off earlier this week when the 6-foot-8, 215-pound junior, who still has two years still left at Schaumburg High School in Illinois, become commit No. 1 for the Badgers in the 2021 class.

"Chris is a very mature young man and I think he found a great deal of challenge and comfort at Wisconsin, and he liked the combination of that," Illinois Wolves program director Mike Mullins told BadgerBlitz.com. "Coach Gard and his staff have been real honest with him - they've told him what he does well, they've told him what he needs to work on and also where they see him fitting in at Wisconsin.