Wisconsin tops national powers for Rivals250 CB Omillio Agard
In Luke Fickell's first abbreviated recruiting cycle at Wisconsin, he landed the highest-rated cornerback UW ever signed during the RIvals.com era, four-star talent Amare Snowden.
In the 2024 cycle, the Badgers upped the stakes with a commitment from Omillio Agard, the No. 124 prospect in the country. The four-star from Philadelphia made his decision public on July 1, news that aligned with his 18th birthday.
"I knew I would be one of the highest recruits, but I didn't know I would be the highest corner they've ever signed," Agard told BadgerBlitz.com when asked about potential being the highest-rated corner ever to play for the Badgers. "That's cool... that's a blessing."
Agard's actual commitment came during an official visit the weekend of June 9. But the groundwork was laid much earlier, dating back to Fickell and assistant coach Colin Hitschler's time at Cincinnati.
"Coach Fick and Coach Hitsch have been my main recruiters. They've been recruiting me since I was a freshman at St. Joe's Prep," Agard said. "They were at Cincinnati at the time when they offered, but I was always going to go to a Power 5 school. But they stayed in touch because they wanted to get to know me as a person, and I didn't want to burn any bridges on my end. If they were at Wisconsin from the start, Wisconsin would have been in my top five right away. For them to make that move was big for me.
"When they got to Wisconsin they started to call me more and talk to me more, and we really built that relationship back up. Coach Hitsch was at my school a bunch and it helps a lot that he's also from Philadelphia. He knows my coaches and has good relationships with them. And then they added Coach (Paul) Haynes, and we clicked right away. We talked football, we talked family stuff and I got to know him really well."
The No. 15 cornerback in the country ultimately chose UW over Clemson. But the 5-foot-11, 165-pound rising senior also listed offers from Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Miami (FL), Michigan, Penn State, Texas A&M and USC, among many others, during the course of his recruitment.
"Wisconsin showed more love than any other school," Agard said. "I couldn't make it during the spring for an unofficial because I wanted my family there with me, so we came for an official in June and they blew me away. I thought it was going to be grass fields and everything, but it's a beautiful city on a peninsula. Wisconsin football is the talk of the town all the day, and everything really wowed me.
"Knowing that I was wanted to go Power 5 was the biggest thing, and then I cut it down by keeping the schools that were showing me the most interest. All the big-time schools that offered me I ended up visiting, and I took more than 10 visits. I laid it out with the pros and cons and Wisconsin came out on top."
Wisconsin will lose two of its three top cornerbacks - Alexander Smith and Jason Maitre - to graduation at the conclusion of the 2023 season. With that, Agard is coming to Madison with the mindset of playing as a true freshman.
"That's the plan," he said. "God willing I will stay healthy and get in there and learn the playbook as fast as I can. That will determine if I play right away, but that's what I plan on doing. They think I can be a field corner, boundary corner and even a slot corner for them. I can play every position but they will put me in a specific spot once I get there.
"The scheme fits me perfectly and I love how their defense is designed to confuse the quarterback. They play a lot of man, but they also can play Cover 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9. Those are the coverages I do now at my high school and it fits me really well."
Agard is the second cornerback UW has a commitment from in the current cycle, along with three-star Jay Harper. He is the 15th public pledge for the Badgers in the 2024 class, and he's working to add a few more names to the list.
"I'm so happy that this process is over and I can focus on my senior season," Agard said. "I can just have fun with my coaches, my teammates and my family before I go on to bigger things at Wisconsin. It was so stressful - it's a blessing but I'm so happy it's over.
"I've been silent about my commitment but I've been working on guys a bunch. I got Gideon (Ituka) to commit as well as Raphael (Dunn). I'm looking to get Kaj Sanders and I want my teammate, David Washington, to come with me. He's a four-star receiver. So it's really Kaj and Dave, and then the coaches will send me some more names. There are probably about five more spots left."
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