The 2019 Wisconsin Badgers football recruiting class already has hit new heights. But, there was one key piece to the puzzle the coaching staff was waiting on — its top of the board linebacker. 

On Saturday, UW got the answer it was looking for as three-star linebacker Spencer Lytle committed to the Badgers over his other finalist, Clemson. 

Lytle was the No. 1 outside linebacker on the Badgers board and the biggest missing piece to the puzzle for this recruiting class. While the three-star rating may not blow you away, make no mistake, Lytle was one of the most sought-after players at his position in the country. 

It is easy to see why when you put on the tape, and equally so when you see his numbers on paper. Lytle had 77 tackles, 3.0 sacks, and nine additional hurries for Servite High School in Anaheim last season. 

He held offers from 40-plus programs, most of which reads like a who’s who of national contenders on an annual basis. In the end, it came down to Wisconsin and Clemson, with few really knowing where Lytle was leaning. 

The Badgers got their biggest target at outside linebacker and alongside in-state product Leo Chenal, appear done with recruiting the overall linebacker position for the 2019 class. 

UW’s class now has 13 verbal commits and Lytle’s pledge pushed the Badgers near the top 25 in the national team rankings. Currently, Wisconsin sits No. 26 in the 247Sports composite rankings. The Badgers jumped seven spots with this announcement on Saturday. 

Lytle was able to keep his recruitment tight-lipped and same with his commitment choice. Few knew what was really going to happen when he announced earlier on Saturday, but it went the Badgers way. 

Wisconsin also continues to make small inroads in recruiting one of the biggest states for talent in the country — California. Lytle’s commitment means back-to-back seasons with a prospect from the state, as Alexander Smith signed in the 2018 class and will likely redshirt this upcoming season. 

Equally important, Lytle is attending one of the top high school programs in the country this year in St. John Bosco. They are the preseason No. 1 team in the country and consistently put out high-level FBS players. 

While Lytle will only be there for one season, he could be a good foot in the door for UW at the school. 

It will be interesting to see how quickly Lytle fits in at Wisconsin, because after this season things will be wide open on one side of the outside linebacker spot as Andrew Van Ginkel will graduate. 

The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball program will have one less senior on its roster for the 2018-19 season than it did entering the offseason.

On Tuesday night, reserve forward Andy Van Vliet announced his decision to transfer for his final season of eligibility via his Twitter account.

On to the next chapter. Thank you Wisconsin! pic.twitter.com/8va1wO6gKD

— Andy van Vliet (@andyvanvliet) March 13, 2018

Van Vliet’s new destination wasn’t made clear, but it appears he will seek out opportunities within D1 basketball going forward.

The Badgers will not restrict where he moves and appear ready to assist in whatever is needed with this move according to a statement from head coach Greg Gard.

“We thank Andy for what he did for our program over the last three seasons and we wish him the best moving forward,” Gard said. “We will help him in any way we can as he looks for a new school to continue his career.”

The 6-11 forward came to the Badgers as a three-point sharp shooter and the hope was his height and shooting ability would give UW an advantage in stretching other forwards beyond the three-point line.

Van Vliet appeared in 31 games over two seasons at Wisconsin. The Antwerp, Belgium, native averaged 3.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in 17 games in 2017-18, notching career highs of 18 points and eight rebounds vs. South Carolina State.

He entered this season as a starter and that South Carolina State opener gave plenty of hope for him to be a big contributor for the team. Instead, Van Vliet’s defense became a liability that his inconsistent shooting couldn’t overcome.

Ultimately, his playing time began to dwindle and he was seated deep on the bench for most of the 2017-18 season.

His departure leaves another open scholarship for the Badgers, which will be interesting to see how they fill.

The Wisconsin Badgers looked like they were sleepwalking through what should’ve been an easy non-conference win over Chicago State a few days ago. A repeat was not on the cards on Saturday afternoon in the Kohl Center though, as the Badgers blew out visiting UMass-Lowell 82-53.

With the win, the Badgers improved to 8-7 on the season (1-1 in Big Ten play) and ended non-conference play on a four-game win streak.

Three players were in double figures for the Badgers, as Ethan Happ and Brevin Pritzl each put up a team-high 18 points to go with Aleem Ford’s 10 points on the day. Happ also had 4 rebounds and 2 assists in the win. Freshman point guard gutted it out again with a sore shoulder, adding 7 points but also a huge day dishing the ball for 6 assists.

Lowell was led by Josh Gantz, who had 16 points in the losing effort. The Riverhawks dropped to 6-7 on the season as they look forward to America East play in the coming months.

Pritzl Coming in to His Own

Wisconsin desperately needed a third scoring option with injuries to D’Mitrick Trice and Kobe King. Pritzl was inserted in to the starting lineup, but wasn’t an immediate answer. The good news is that as the rotation has gotten figured out, Pritzl is becoming that needed third scoring option. He was actually the Badgers best player not named Ethan Happ on Saturday afternoon, hitting his 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting from the field (3 of 5 from 3-point range).

It was good to see his efficient scoring continue, as Pritzl has now scored in double digits in four of the last five games. All of that came after he was held scoreless and played just 10 minutes against Temple early on in December. Responding back to that bad night with 10 points in the loss to Marquette may have gone under the radar, but he’s been fairly consistent on the offensive end of the floor since then.

Perhaps things are finally starting to click, as Pritzl is also a combined 10 of 22 from beyond the arc in those five games since getting goose-egged at Temple. Seeing it happen in game action, even if the competition level isn’t up to Big Ten standards can go a long way towards giving Pritzl the confidence needed to do it against better competition too.

Wisconsin has to love the version of Pritzl it has gotten in the past few weeks.

McGrory Showing Value on Defense

The plan was to redshirt preferred walk-on Walt McGrory this season, but duty called with injuries in the backcourt. All that meant was sink or swim for a player few outside of the diehard even knew was on the team. So far it’s hard not to say McGrory isn’t swimming.

On Saturday he played 21 minutes, and while he didn’t score any points he had value to the Badgers in other ways. That was especially the case on the defensive end, as McGrory put up a team-best three steals (5 total as a team) and had a rebound too.

That may not jump off the stat sheet as a vital stat given Wisconsin blew UMass-Lowell out and all, but it is important because McGrory is going to be called on to provide big minutes early on in Big Ten play. It isn’t likely that McGrory is going to be counted on to be a scorer, but he does need to give UW something off the bench. He did it on Saturday, now can he do it against much better competition?

Up Next for Wisconsin:

Wisconsin faces Indiana to re-open Big Ten play. Tip is scheduled for 6pm CT on ESPN.

It has long been assumed that the 19 players committed to the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2018 class would be the end of the recruiting cycle. After all, the numbers seem to work out to a full class.

But, early indications this week suggest that Wisconsin is not only shoring up the 19 players already verbally committed, but also poking around and still making a few offers to other names in the class.

One name to really keep an eye on is 4-star cornerback Houston Griffith, who recently re-opened his recruiting after Jimbo Fisher left Florida State for Texas A&M. Griffin was a big target for the Badgers earlier in his recruitment, but UW backed off a bit when it was clear he would be committing elsewhere.

Notre Dame is currently the runaway favorite, but it is clear that the Badgers want to get involved bad. With rumors of Nick Nelson potentially leaving school early and Derrick Tindal’s graduation, the cornerback spot is going to need bodies and an influx of top-level talent in the next year or two.

Getting an official visit in the coming weeks would be huge for the son of BTN analyst Howard Griffith, and a good indication of just how serious the interest is on both sides. A commitment to the Badgers would be a huge help to say the least, and Griffith could be in the mix early for playing time if Nelson leaves early.

But, it isn’t just a position of need (despite two players already at cornerback in this class) that the Badgers are going after. They have continued to evaluate every position and have even offered a new name at wide receiver. According to the offer list on 247Sports, a new name has popped up in 3-star wide receiver John Jackson.

The California native is rated as the No. 93 wide receiver by the 247Sports composite rankings. Jackson has serious interest in the Big Ten, with schools like Illinois in the mix as well as West Coast powers like Oregon, UCLA and USC in the mix.

Jackson appears likely to take official visits to the Midwest, so getting him on campus could be a huge help to the Badgers chances to land him in February.

Wisconsin also has looked in to running back Markele Stepp according to a recent report. That would be an interesting move given the Badgers already have Nakia Watson in the fold and have a loaded group of running backs coming back next season in at least Garrett Groshek, Chris James, Bradrick Shaw and Jonathan Taylor.

But, what remains to be seen is just who is leaving the program to help fill the extra spot or two that would be needed in this class. Will names like Michael Dieter, David Edwards or T.J. Edwards be leaving early for the NFL?

If so, look for the Badgers to have the room to add the names they’ve offered late in the process.

One thing is for sure, this staff isn’t leaving any stone unturned on the recruiting trail.