Wisconsin Badgers positional recruit snapshot: 2025 outside linebackers

With official visits right around the corner, BadgerBlitz.com will be bringing you snapshots in the current recruiting cycle for each recruited position, covering the targets who are legitimate prospects on Wisconsin's board in the 2025 class. We will discuss the current commits, as well as who is most interested in the Badgers heading into the summer.

As always, this is just a snapshot in time and things remain fluid. Additional offered targets will appear over the next few months and some recruits will inevitably choose other colleges.

Today, we continue with a look at the outside linebackers.

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Transfer portal linebackers Leon Lowery and John Pius proved to be valuable additions to Wisconsin's roster this spring. The two veterans paired nicely with Darryl Peterson and Aaron Witt to form a solid two-deep during camp. Behind them, early enrollees Thomas Heiberger and Anelu Lafaele earned valuable reps.

On the recruiting front, the Badgers are likely two-thirds of the way done at outside linebacker with commitments from Brenden Anes and Samuel Lateju.

Wisconsin hosted Brenden Anes for a game last fall and again for a junior day on Jan. 13. Commit No. 7 for the Badgers in the 2025 class, Anes chose Wisconsin over offers from Austin Peay, Charlotte, Duke, Indiana, Liberty, Memphis, Tennessee and Wake Forest, among others.

"He’s long, he’s rangy, he can play inside, outside linebacker," Fred J. Page head coach Charles Rathbone told BadgerBlitz.com. "He can cover and he can blitz. He kind of checks all the boxes of what a linebacker can do. So they were glad to have a guy who could do multiple things and get after the quarterback and drop into coverage and just be a physical player on the edge.

"For us we leave him at the strong side. He’s our linebacker who can drop into coverage and then come up and set the edge and turn everything back inside to the flow. We don’t play him a whole lot inside although we have played him a little bit. We’ve been blessed with a couple of pretty good high school inside linebackers, but if he had to do it he could do it. He’s also played running back for us sometimes. He’s just a good overall athlete. Good size and very, very long. For us he’s that strong side linebacker that really contains everything."

Anes is expected to take his official visit to Wisconsin during the weekend of June 7

Wisconsin hosted Samuel Lateju for a junior day on Feb. 3 and landed his verbal roughly one month later. Commit No. 8 for the Badgers in the 2025 class, Lateju chose Wisconsin over offers from Boston College, Duke, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Wake Forest and West Virginia, among others.

"It was the people and just the whole environment at Wisconsin," Lateju told BadgerBlitz.com on Monday evening. "When I went there I wanted to commit right away, but I needed to think about it and talk more with my coaches and parents. We had to give it a few weeks to really make sure this is what we wanted to do. I knew I was ready for a while now.

"Everything about Wisconsin is electric. I fell in love with Madison as soon as I got there and I can't to get started. It's the perfect fit for me."

Lateju is expected to take his official visit to Wisconsin during the weekend of May 31.