In what was Gary Andersen's first full recruiting cycle at Wisconsin, the Class of 2014 was a huge group for the Badgers. UW signed 26 scholarship athletes, which, along with the 2008 class, was tied for the most during the Rivals.com era.
While the number was high on Signing Day, a good chunk of this class had their respective careers at Wisconsin cut short due to various reasons and circumstances.
The fourth installment in a new series at BadgerBlitz.com, Publisher Jon McNamara provides a memory or two on each scholarship signees' recruitment in the 2014 class.
RELATED: CLASS OF 2011 | CLASS OF 2012 | CLASS OF 2013 |
Note: Prospects are listed in the order of their commitment to UW.
The son of former Wisconsin lineman and team captain Joe Panos, George Panos seemed destined to play for the Badgers. Bret Bielema offered during the spring game in April of 2012 and Panos jumped on that scholarship. Arkansas, Florida State and Miami also came in with offers, and Panos actually took two other official visits during the fall of 2013 to North Carolina State and Notre Dame. But with his ties to the program, Panos' pledge to Wisconsin never seemed in doubt despite the coaching transition.
Like Panos, Jaden Gault originally committed to Bielema in the summer of 2012. That was relatively straightforward - in-state offensive lineman earns an offer at camp and commits soon after. But it was Gault's second recruitment that got really interesting, when schools like Ohio State, Georgia, Oregon and Oklahoma tried to flip his commitment during the coaching transition. In the end, Gault, an Army All-America Bowl participant, stuck with his commitment but left the program almost immediately to deal with mental health issues.
Charlie Partridge had two really good in-state defensive linemen at camp in June of 2012. That summer, the Badgers sent offers out to Craig Evans of Sun Prairie and Conor Sheehy of Marquette, both of whom just finished up their sophomore year of high school. With Sheehy, Michigan made things interesting for a while, but the three-star prospect never really wavered from his pledge.
"I was very surprised to hear the news," Sheehy told BadgerBlitz.com. "I always thought Coach Bielema would be there when I graduated, so it was a bit of a shock when it happened. But nothing for me has really changed recruiting-wise. I am pretty solid for now. I've wanted to play for the Badgers for a long time and that has been a dream of mine. That obviously won't change, but I'll have to see what other changes happen on the coaching staff."
Billy Hirschfeld is the last signee on this report from the "Super Six," along Panos, Gault, Sheehy, Evans and Gaelin Elmore. It was a creative tag for Andersen's top in-state targets in the 2014 class, but Evans (Michigan State) and Elmore (Minnesota) eventually ended up at other Big Ten programs. Back to Hirschfeld... He looked like a perfect fit for a defensive end in a 3-4 scheme, but I remember those close to the Warhawks' program thinking he'd be a better fit at offensive tackle in college.
We knew it at the time, but those (University of) Arrowhead teams were loaded. That 2014 senior class included Panos, Hirschfeld, Alex Romenesko (South Dakota State), Tom Kirsch (Western Illinois), Sam Seonbuchner (Iowa State), Matt Seitz (Whitewater), Kevin Driscoll (Butler) and Ricky Finco (Whitewater and Wisconsin), among others.
