On Friday, 2023 3-star CG John Blackwell (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) out of Brother Rice High School shut down his recruitment, and committed to UW, before the summer grassroots circuit really kicked off. Wisconsin was the first, and to this point only, Power 5 offer that Blackwell earned and that must have meant a lot to him based on his early commitment.
Blackwell’s high school team, Brother Rice, has a pair of other high-major talents in his class and while he clearly stood out to Wisconsin early that wasn’t the case for other teams. Head coach Rick Palmer noted in our discussion on Saturday that morning that he “wishes [Blackwell] would be a little more aggressive,” which may have thrown some teams off the scent of a talented player.