Notre Dame wins impressive recruiting battle vs. Wisconsin
Notre Dame’s last player from Wisconsin was defensive lineman Brian Beidatsch, a Milwaukee native who signed with the Irish in 2001. He recorded 11 tackles and a sack in his collegiate career.
Given Notre Dame’s three-hour distance from Milwaukee, it is shocking that the Irish haven’t had a player from the state in that period of time.
But the Irish’s newest commitment comes from about an hour northwest of Milwaukee from Fond du Lac (Wis.) St. Mary’s Springs offensive lineman Billy Schrauth.
The recruitment dragged on much, much longer than anticipated and had twists and turns. This article won’t focus on that aspect of the recruitment, but more of the historical outlook.
Assuming Schrauth, a class of 2022 recruit, ends up signing with the Fighting Irish during the early signing period Dec. 15-17, he will end a 21-year drought of Notre Dame landing a player from the Badger State.
Let me just state this one more time. Notre Dame hasn’t signed a recruit from Wisconsin, which is not all that far from South Bend, has plenty of talent and is a state that had been good to the Irish in earlier Notre Dame history, in two decades.
In the 2019, 2020 and 2021 recruiting cycles, Notre Dame offered four recruits the Badger State. All of those prospects — Julius Davis (2019), Tery Wedig (2020) and Hunter Wohler and Braelon Allen (2021) — picked the Badgers, showing just how hard it is to pluck recruits out of Wisconsin.
In the 2022 class, Notre Dame offered three prospects — all offensive linemen — from Wisconsin: Schrauth, Whitefish Bay (Wis.) High’s Joe Brunner and Hammond (Wis.) St. Croix Central’s Carson Hinzman.
Brunner and Hinzman both officially visited Notre Dame in June, but Brunner picked Wisconsin while Hinzman is expected to choose between Ohio State and the Badgers.
Notre Dame was going to play Wisconsin last fall in Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, but that game was canceled. The Badgers and Fighting Irish played at Soldier Field in Chicago Sept. 25, and Notre Dame ran away with a 41-13 win that featured a 31-3 fourth-quarter demolition.
The canceled game in Lambeau Field from 2020 has been rescheduled for Sept. 5, 2026. Schrauth will play in that game if he’s around for his fifth year.
“Notre Dame has always been my dream school,” Schrauth previously told BlueandGold.com. “I love the campus and everything about it. All of my talks have been great with Coach [Jeff] Quinn. My whole family loves him. He’s always asks about my family. He definitely really cares about us.
“The history — it’s a special place. My whole family loves it there. It’s definitely special.”
Schrauth’s offer list includes Arizona State, Central Michigan, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Stanford, Tennessee, Western Michigan and Wisconsin, in addition to Notre Dame.
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