BREAKING: 4-star RB Antonio Williams de-commits from Badgers

[BuckySaunders]

When the Wisconsin Badgers got a commit from one of the top running backs in the class of 2016, history said this was going to be a long road to national signing day. History was proven right on Wednesday, as 4-star running back Antonio Williams told our recruiting partners at Badger247 that he has de-committed from the Wisconsin Badgers.

pic.twitter.com/wRHimRCzf1

— Antonio Williams™ (@A_B_Williams34) October 14, 2015
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Earlier this week it was revealed that Williams had been hearing increased interest from reigning national champions, Ohio State. That contact has led to Williams making an un-official visit to Ohio State on Thursday.

Before even getting to Columbus, the Badgers’ prized running back commit has decided to open his recruitment back up.

Evan Flood of Badger247 has recently changed his crystal ball for Williams to that of the Buckeyes, with signs pointing to a commitment coming shortly after his visit.

What prompted all of this? While the full story is likely to only be known by those on the inside, it can’t be coincidence that Ohio State reached out after the nation’s No. 1-ranked running back in the 2016 class, Kareem Walker, took an official visit to the University of Michigan over this past weekend.

Many in the recruiting world believe its a matter of when, not if, Walker re-opens his recruitment and likely ends up at Ohio State’s bitter rivals.

With Williams likely not heading to Wisconsin, although we’ve seen him have one foot out of the door after the departure of running backs coach Thomas Brown only to come back in the fold, this one feels different.

If Williams does flip to the Buckeyes, it will be the third verbal pledge for the New London, North Carolina native. He was previously committed to the home-state North Carolina Tar Heels before making a switch the Badgers back in December of 2014.

Wisconsin now goes back to the drawing board at running back, and interestingly enough has reached out to Walker over the past week to gauge potential interest. That is likely to not go far from what sources are telling us.

However, sources indicate the Badgers have always had a game plan in place for a situation like this. That’s just basic recruiting 101.

Look for those names to come to the surface in the next few days, especially if Williams ends up making his verbal commitment to the Buckeyes following his visit.

Wisconsin’s class is now down to 20 verbal commitments, and will likely move down the 247Sports rankings after loosing the third-highest rated player in its class.

The post BREAKING: 4-star RB Antonio Williams de-commits from Badgers appeared first on Madtown Badgers.

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[Mark87]

Just great sick(

 

[57packer]

This seems to have been building for a few weeks. Williams started taking down UW stuff from his Facebook or Twitter (I don't do either one) from what I've heard and he started following OSU players.

What Williams forgets is that while OSU is certainly an exciting place to be from a football standpoint, their style might not be as conducive to getting into the NFL. Yes, the stud they have now is getting plenty of love, but their spread offense does not usually feature the RB position as prominently as the pro-style offense that UW runs. OSU has a QB-centric offense as opposed to UW which is really a RB-centric offense. That said, I can't blame him for looking long and hard at a place where he can win a national championship.

 

[FlaPack]

Carlos Hyde is in the NFL and Elliott will be also so OSU style of offense is not an issue.

That said this is a deeper issue than just Williams. Chryst is playing from behind to begin with based on the last few recruiting classes. The last 2 seasons, including ibthione got a break do to favorable schedulesN. ext year not so uch. There has been chatter for years that Chryst did not embrace recruiting.

My gut says there is more to this going back to the loss of Thomas Brown.

 

[44blitz]

Events like Antonio Williams decommitting is why I don't follow during the recruiting phase much anymore. This was a kid who wore Wisconsin pride on his sleeve for a year or whatever, then all of a sudden because of one loss, correlating with a brief downturn in OL play, and possible a tough start to Gordon's NFL career, he changes his mind. Kids are so fickle and impressionable at that age. They don't know who they are yet.

On a macro level I guess recruiting still means something before signing day because you can get somewhat of a gauge what type of class it is. There is a seldom a mass exodus. But on an individual basis, players decommit often, so it's like I'll keep a quarter eye out until signing day and then do a lil' cram session. I don't think it's worth much investment before that, honestly.