With Wisconsin's 2023 recruiting class now in the books, BadgerBlitz.com takes a look at UW's hot spots on the recruiting front and examines the top targets in a handful of states across the country from the 2024 class.

Today, we begin with Illinois, a constant for the Badgers due to its geographical location.

Primary recruiter(s) in the state: Gino Guidugli has been working in Illinois under first-year head coach Luke Fickell. Other staff members have also done spot recruiting in the state this winter.

Number of Illinois athletes on the current roster (including the 2023 class): 11

Number of known offers extended in Illinois in 2024 class: 15

Hotspot: Bolingbrook

Notable past recruits from Illinois: O'Brien Schofield, Scott Tolzien, Kraig Appleton, Jon Budmayr, Warren Herring, Dan Voltz, Garret Dooley, Troy Fumagalli, TJ Edwards, David Edwards, Kendric Pryor, Jack Sanborn, Izayah Green-May, Dylan Barrett, Bryan Sanborn and Austin Brown, among others.

Grant Stec, a three-star tight end from Jacobs High School in Illinois, gave his commitment to the Badgers during a junior-day visit in late January. Commit No. 2 for Wisconsin in the 2024 class, Stec chose the Badgers over offers from Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Penn State and Tennessee, among others.

"He had something like 25-plus offers and he probably could have had more had he wanted to go out and camp," Jacobs head coach Brian Zimmerman told BadgerBlitz.com. "At this point with the amount text messages he was getting and everything else, he was ready to get this done with and move forward.

"Some guys like to go on visits, put the jersey on and show it on social media. Grant really isn’t one of those people. He’s kept things pretty quiet and I know it takes stress off him to get this done. He wants to get back to just being a kid. You don’t get a lot of kids like him that come through your program. Coach Fickell is a very nice and genuine guy when I spoke to him and I can't wait to see what he can do with Grant."