Of the 20-plus athletes from Wisconsin's 2024 roster who have already entered the portal, Xavier Lucas was likely the most significant thus far.
The former four-star prospect who played in 11 contests for the Badgers this year announced his intentions to transfer on Thursday. The Florida native is expected to return home to play for Miami, though that is not yet official.
The Hurricanes and Seminoles both made late pushes to land Lucas in the 2024 recruiting cycle.
“They are definitely making me feel like a priority right now,” Lucas said on how he feels Miami views in October of 2023. “The communication is consistent. They're always showing a lot of love. The relationship with (secondary coach Jahmile) Addae is great. We talk about life, never just ball. Things are only growing with him.”
Lucas, 6-foot-2 and 198 pounds, recorded 18 tackles and one interception during the course of his 203 snaps in 2024. More importantly, though, he was expected to anchor the boundary in 2025 and beyond for the Badgers.
“He's been a guy that we've been able to roll. And that's something we didn't have last year. I think the depth at the back end made it really difficult to get some of those guys in and get roles for those guys," head coach Luke Fickell said in October of 2024. "But as you see, we're playing some different personnels, and he has, maybe not the starting role, but he has a role as soon as we go to dime, or as soon as we go into a different package, which I think gives him some confidence as well. He's a guy that we knew, walking in the door, he was gonna have talent. We knew that he was going to have to be put in there at some point in time. And then, how was he going to handle that? How is his maturity going to handle that? Can he adjust week in and week out? And he's done a really good job.
“I don't know that he's been targeted… It's not like somebody's coming in and saying, ‘There's a true freshman over there, let's go target him.’ And that's not because he's a true freshman, it's because he has done a good job, when he's been in there, of being consistent. And I would tell you that that's the way he's been in practice, which is the way he's played. And that's not always what you get from a young guy. Usually there is a bit more of a roller coaster with young guys.”
Lucas was also one of the more intriguing athletes on the entire roster in terms of NFL upside. Now, position coach Paul Haynes must turn to the portal for immediate help.
In addition to Lucas, UW also saw young defensive backs Amare Snowden, Jace Arnold, Justin Taylor, Braedyn Moore and Jones Duclona enter the portal this month. Veterans Max Lofy (portal), Nyzier Fourqurean (graduation/NFL) and R.J. Delancy (graduation/NFL) are also gone.
Right now, Wisconsin has just three scholarship cornerbacks on the current roster, and that's assuming Ricardo Hallman comes back for a fifth season.
So where do the Badgers go from here? Hallman, Omillio Agard and Jay Harper will be joined by Class of 2025 signees Cairo Skanes and Jahmare Washington this spring and summer, respectively. Wisconsin, however, carried 11 scholarship cornerbacks on the 2024 roster.
UW will have to turn to the portal for additional help. Devin Pringle has visited, but that board will have to continue to expand with Lucas no longer with the program.
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