Bret Bielema's first class as head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers - a 23-athlete group that took right up until the final hours before Signing Day to complete - featured more failures than success stories.

Just 10 athletes from the 2006 class completed their careers at Wisconsin, with 13 either transferring or walking away from football due to injuries. But it was a unique situation for Bielema, a head-coach-in-waiting during the 2005 season who had limited recruiting time with that cycle of prospects.

"It's like your first date," former Wisconsin assistant coach Henry Mason said. "That's always special. It's (Bielema's) first class and I thought he had a good vision and good plan and he really knew what he wanted and how he wanted to do it.

"You know, we got the guys we wanted to go after, and that's the bottom line."

As Wisconsin fans count down the days before fall camp opens, we look back at the 2006 scholarship recruiting class and re-rank them based on their careers at UW.

Note: Players are listed in alphabetical order

Wisconsin was able to land Minnesota's Isaac Anderson despite an offer from the Gophers. That was the program his father, Melvin, played for. It certainly wasn't a flashy career in Madison, but Anderson finished as a four-year letterman with 1,048 receiving yards.

Rivals Re-Ranking: ***

A last-minute addition to Wisconsin's 2006 class, Niles Brinkley selected UW over Alabama State, Southeast Missouri State and Ball State. The cornerback earned four varsity letters as a Badger and led the team in pass breakups as a senior in 2010. Brinkley was also an honorable mention All-Big Ten performer during his final season.

Rivals Re-Ranking: ***

At the time, Jake Bscherer, the No. 1 player in the state and No. 4 offensive tackle in the country, was the gem of Wisconsin's 2006 class. The former four-star prospect never lived up to the hype, though, and transferred from Wisconsin in spring of 2010 after he started six games in 2009. Bscherer then took two years off from football before returning for his final year of eligibility at Minnesota-Duluth, a Division 2 school.

Rivals Re-Ranking: **

Gabe Carimi, a standout offensive lineman in Wisconsin's backyard, was another player who performed above his star rating. The former three-star prospect from Monona Grove made 49 starts at left tackle during his four-year career and was awarded the 2010 Outland Trophy as the nation's top collegiate lineman. Carimi, who had Joe Thomas' monster shoes to fill at left tackle, was also a unanimous All-American and the Big Ten's lineman of the year as a senior.

Rivals Re-Ranking: *****

Kirk DeCremer, from nearby Verona, committed to Wisconsin rather early in the process. He was actually the first recruit Bielema landed after it was announced he would take over for Barry Alvarez at the end of the 2005 season. It appeared DeCremer was on his way to play above his three-star rating after recording a team-best 5.5 sacks as a freshman in 2007, including All-American honors from the Sporting News. But back injuries forced the promising defensive end to give up football.

Rivals Re-Ranking: ***

It was thought that then-defensive assistant Dave Doeren found a "sleeper" from California in Ricky Garner, who missed most of his junior (high school) season with a knee injury. The two-star prospect was another late addition to the 2006 class and, like others in that group, didn't last long at UW. Injuries continued to be an issue at Wisconsin and Garner left the program in the spring of 2009.

Rivals Re-Ranking: **

Landing Xavier Harris, who also had offers from Clemson, Michigan State and Iowa, showed Bielema's recruiting connections in south Florida. Harris played as a true freshman but back injuries eventually ended his career at Wisconsin.

Rivals Re-Ranking: **

From the "what could have been category," back injuries destroyed Brandon Hoey's career at Wisconsin. During his recruitment, the former four-star prospect narrowed his list to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa State, Colorado, Arkansas and Nebraska before committing to Bielema in September of 2005. "Honesty I think he was surprised," Hoey said of Bielema. "I had called to say 'hi' and then I finally got enough guts to say, 'Coach, I want to be a Badger.'" Hoey was the No. 3-ranked player in Minnesota and the No. 23 defensive tackle in the nation as a senior at Mounds View High School, according to Rivals.com. He recorded 96 tackles, including a school-record 22 for loss, that year.

Rivals Re-Ranking: Incomplete

Jamathan Ingram-Lyle lasted just a few days in Madison and never made it past his first fall camp. There appeared to be a fall out between him and the coaching staff, and Ingram-Lyle eventually wound up at Northern Colorado.

Rivals Re-Ranking: Incomplete

Diondrae Jenkins had 36 receptions for 699 yards and 11 touchdowns during an all-state - and Division 1 state title - senior season at Racine Park. The two-star wide out chose a late scholarship from UW over an offer from Northern Illinois but only lasted one season in Madison. Jenkins was very close with blue-chip prep teammate John Clay in the 2007 class, leaving some to wonder if he was brought on to help lure the four-star running back to Wisconsin in the following cycle.

Rivals Re-Ranking: Incomplete

Daven Jones was a product of Henry Mason's strong recruiting ties in the state of Ohio. Expectations were high for Jones coming in, but he failed to qualify academically and attended prep school (Milford Academy in New Berlin, N.Y.) for one semester. The three-star prospect arrived on campus in 2007 and played in nine games that season before he suffered a torn ACL in 2008. That summer, Jones transferred to Eastern Kentucky.

Rivals Re-Ranking: **

One of the very few big-time prospects from the Milwaukee City Conference over the last 20 years, Lance Kendricks committed to Wisconsin over offers from Arkansas, LSU, South Carolina and UCLA, among others. It took him a few seasons to get going, but Kendricks started nine games as a junior and earned AFCA All-American, as well as Sports Illustrated and Sporting News first-team All-American honors, as a senior. In 2010, Kendricks led the team in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns and was selected in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft.

Rivals Re-Ranking: ****

John Moffitt proved to be one of the top players in this class with 43 starts over the course of his career at left guard and center. As a senior, Moffitt netted AP first-team All-American, SI second-team All-American and All-Big Ten honors. He was also one of the best personalities to walk through that locker room over the last 20 years.

Rivals Re-Ranking: ****

Another recruit from Texas (Kerry Cooks' recruiting territory) in the 2006 class, Maurice Moore chose Wisconsin largely because Bielema offered him a chance to play quarterback. "They told me I had a chance to play quarterback and that was one of major reasons why I committed," Moore told BadgerBlitz.com. "But they said I was athletic enough to play a lot of positions." Quarterback didn't last too long as Moore was quickly moved to receiver. As a junior, the former two-star prospect caught three passes for 45 yards but was suspended indefinitely in November of 2009 following an arrest for operating while intoxicated.

Rivals Re-Ranking: **

Bill Nagy, who had offers from a number of programs across the Midwest, had an interesting career at Wisconsin. He started only three games during his first three years and was involved in a moped accident before the start of his junior season. But as a senior, Nagy started eight of Wisconsin's 13 contests at three different positions - guard, center and tight end. In that same year (2010) all six Badgers offensive linemen who started games during the Big Ten season earned all-conference honors.

Rivals Re-Ranking: ***

A two-time first-team all-state running back, Josh Nettles carried the ball 205 times for 1,463 yards and 20 rushing touchdowns as a senior but was lightly recruited coming out of high school. Bielema added the projected cornerback very late in the process and Nettles contributed as a true freshman. Academic problems, though, eventually led to a premature exit from Madison.

Rivals Re-Ranking: **

Kimuel Royston's career at Wisconsin will best be remembered for his transfer, a process Bielema tried - but failed - to limit. A Minnesota native, Royston was informed by Bielema in the spring of 2008 he would only be granted a release from his scholarship if he picked a school that didn't appear on the Badgers' schedule during the 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons. After much back and forth, Royston won that battle and transferred to Minnesota, where he went 0-2 against UW in 2009 and 2010.

Rivals Re-Ranking: **

There was never any question about Lance Smith's talent. The three-star prospect from Ohio rushed for 1,845 yards and averaged 9.8 per carry during his senior season in high school. As a true freshman at Wisconsin, he was the team's second-leading rusher with 345 yards and five touchdowns behind P.J. Hill. But in August of 2008, Bielema announced he had dismissed Smith from the program, a month after he was expelled from a first-offenders program for failing to meet its requirements. Smith surfaced at Memphis but never made a significant impact at that school.

Rivals Re-Ranking: ***

Culmer St. Jean was listed as a safety coming out of high school but found a home at middle linebacker for Wisconsin. An academic all-Big Ten selection as a senior, St. Jean, who earned four letters as a Badger, tied for second on the team in tackles and tied for fourth in TFLs in 2010. The two-year starter picked Wisconsin over offers from Minnesota and West Virginia, among others.

Rivals Re-Ranking: ***

An all-state player at Homestead High School, Brad Thorson was committed to Minnesota before Bret Bielema came in with an offer just days before Signing Day. The two-star prospect quickly flipped and signed with UW. In the spring of his redshirt sophomore year, Thorson was forced to leave the program after he was involved in an incident at practice that caused an injury to defensive end Dan Moore. After he transferred to Kansas, Thorson started all 24 games in his final two seasons with the Jayhawks. He likely would have contributed at UW had he stayed with the team.

Rivals Re-Ranking: ***

If anyone in this class outperformed his star rating it was Scott Tolzien, who won the starting quarterback job in 2009 over Curt Phillips and led Wisconsin to the Rose Bowl the following year. As a senior, Tolzien had a completion percentage of .729 (min. 100 attempts) and efficiency mark of 165.8 (min. 200 attempts), both of which were the best in school history at the time. The No. 32 pro-style quarterback in the Rivals.com player rankings chose UW over offers from Kentucky and Toledo, among others.

Rivals Re-Ranking: ****

Mickey Turner was a four-year letterman for the Badgers (2006-09) and played in a bowl game each year of his collegiate career. As a senior team captain, the standout from Missouri helped Wisconsin to a 10-3 record and No. 16 national ranking following a 20-14 victory over Miami in the 2009 Champs Sports Bowl. Turner also coached at Wisconsin and headed up the recruiting department before he moved on to Illinois State this past winter.

Rivals Re-Ranking: ***

Jay Valai, who decommitted from Iowa in favor of Wisconsin during his recruitment, is one of the most memorable athletes from the Bielema era, both for his hard hitting in the secondary and candid comments to the media. A three-year starter, Valai ended up being one of the top players from the 2006 class. He is currently the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma.

Rivals Re-Ranking: ***

Top overall recruit: Carimi, a four-year starter at left tackle, All-American and Outland Trophy winner.

Biggest bust: Being a U.S. Army All-American Bowl participant proved to be a curse for Bscherer, who never lived up to the hype at his home-state school.

Best surprise: Easily Tolzien, who looked like a career backup at Wisconsin before winning the starting quarterback job as a redshirt junior.

Wanted to see more from: DeCremer teased Wisconsin fans with a very good freshman season. Hoey obviously falls into this category as well.

Rivals.com class rank: No. 40

Bret Bielema - Head coach

Paul Chryst - Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks

Mike Hankwitz – Defensive coordinator

Dave Doeren – Co-defensive Coordinator/inside linebackers/recruiting coordinator

Bob Bostad – Tight ends

Kerry Cooks – Defensive backs

Henry Mason – Wide receivers/Assistant Recruiting Coordinator

Randall McCray – Defensive line

Bob Palcic – Offensive line

John Settle – Running backs

_________________________________________________

*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den

*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel

*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)

*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @TheBadgerNation, @RaulV45, @pete_brey12, @seamus_rohrer

*Like us on Facebook