Three-star CB Vernon Woodward decommits from Wisconsin, flips to Illinois
Vernon Woodward, a three-star prospect from Florida, announced his commitment to Wisconsin on June 4.
A little over two weeks later, the 6-foot-2 and 180-pound cornerback is no longer part of the Badgers' recruiting 2024 class. Woodward backed away from his pledge on Wednesday, according to a post on social media. He is now committed to Illinois.
Woodward, who at the time was commit No. 9 for the Badgers, also had offers from Boston College, Cincinnati, Indiana, Oregon State, Purdue, South Florida, UCF and West Virginia, among others, during his recruitment.
"He was a guy that was kind of open to everything during the recruiting process," Chris Hoats, defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Winter Park High School. "He had offers from the West Coast and stuff from the Midwest. Nothing really surprises me with everything being just a plane ride away. Wisconsin has a good history of bringing guys out of Florida and there's a reason why everyone comes down here to find good DBs. Vernon has always been very open to going wherever he felt was the best fit."
After his official to Wisconsin at the start of the month, Woodward made trips to Illinois and UCF on back-to-back weekends.
The Badgers should be able to absorb the blow at cornerback in the next week or two. Three-star Jay Harper is already committed, and UW is the FutureCast favorite to land both Omillio Agard and Lloyd Irvin. Newly-minted four-star Xavier Lucas, who visited officially the weekend of June 2, is also an option for Wisconsin if they want to go beyond three scholarship corners in 2024.
UW currently has 14 public commitments in the current cycle.
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