Final positional recruit snapshot: 2019 tight ends

With college football's early signing period on the horizon (Dec. 19), BadgerBlitz.com will be bringing you final snapshots for each recruited position, covering the targets who are committed and still remaining on Wisconsin's board in the 2019 class.

Today, we continue with a look at the tight ends.

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Tight end was a thin position this fall, especially after senior Zander Neuville went down with a season-ending injury during Week 3. Prior to that, though, position coach Mickey Turner was looking for at least two tight ends in the 2019 class, and he found them in four-star Hayden Rucci and three-star Clay Cundiff. With the expectation of Neuville, the entire unit, led by Kyle Penniston, Jake Ferguson and Luke Benzschawel, returns this spring.

In February, Wisconsin secured a commitment from Hayden Rucci, arguably its top tight end target in the 2019 class.

"With Wisconsin, when Hayden's family visited this summer and then made it back for a game in the fall, they had nothing but positive things to say about the program and the school," Rucci's head coach, Bob Locker, told BadgerBlitz.com. "They loved the campus, loved the atmosphere and thought it was a tremendous football program, top to bottom."

Rucci, a four-star prospect and the No. 13 tight end in the country, chose UW over offers from Duke, Michigan State, Northwestern, Minnesota, Virginia and Pittsburgh, among others. A Penn State legacy - father, Todd Rucci, played right tackle in Happy Valley from 1989 to 1992 - Hayden Rucci never picked up a scholarship from the Nittany Lions.

"After taking the visits and getting the offers, I think Hayden was comfortable enough where he knew Wisconsin was the best place for him," Locker said. "He was able to tell the other coaches recruiting him that he found his home for the next four or five years, and that was Wisconsin.

"Quite honestly, Penn State expressed a lot of interest in Hayden but they had some other tight ends coming in from the previous (2018) class (Pat Freiermuth and Zack Kuntz) and I never really asked if it was a numbers thing. I don't know if they thought they had more time with Hayden to go through the process but, honestly, when we talked about narrowing the number down, Penn State didn't really enter the conversation too much. There were other schools ahead of them."

Roughly eight months later, Wisconsin found its second tight end when Clay Cundiff flipped from Kansas to UW during an official visit in October.

"Wisconsin has always been a school I wanted to go to," Cundiff told BadgerBlitz.com. "The academics are very strong and they have a great football program. When coach (Ted) Gilmore reached out to me last week I was really excited. I’m really glad I was able to go up there and how everything worked out.

"Coach Matt Miller was very good to my mother and I. He took us around campus and we got to the see the business school and the city. It’s all really beautiful and the coaches are all really good people. That’s what I want to be around for the next five years. When the coaches were watching my film they said the plays that we run at my high school are very similar to what they run in their offense. How I’m being used right now, it won’t be much different when I get to Wisconsin. They said that was a big factor and they like that I’m ahead of the game in terms of knowing a little bit about the offense."

In the last few weeks, it would appear the staff is, at the very least, still evaluating tight end options. Kyle Patterson and Tyler Foster are both worth keeping an eye on down the stretch, as is junior college prospect Travis Koontz, who is originally from Ohio. In the end, though, Rucci and Cundiff will likely be the two scholarship signees this month.

On the preferred walk-on front, Michael Cerniglia, Mitchell Stanchina and Nicholas Kallerup have all taken unofficial visits this fall, but no official offers have been sent out.