Wisconsin
Badgers positional outlook for 2024 and beyond: Running Backs
The Wisconsin Badgers saw an influx of talent join the building at running back this offseason, landing three marquee freshmen, as well as a productive transfer, to create one of the deeper positional groups on the roster.
With the moving pieces, Wisconsin enters the fall season with eight scholarship running backs, holding a good balance between young and veteran talent.
How do the Badgers line up for the 2024 season, and beyond, at the running back position?
2024
The Badgers return Chez Mellusi to the fold after he suffered a fractured fibula, and the sixth-year senior likely takes over the top role out of the backfield.
However, Wisconsin also brought in Oklahoma transfer running back Tawee Walker, who should immediately be a contributor as the No. 2 to Mellusi, although I could see the rotation ending up as more of a 1A-1B situation.
Walker’s 5’9, 230-pound frame suits him well for early down and goal-line work, while Mellusi’s change-of-pace style suits him for a versatile three-down role.
Behind the top two, Wisconsin returns Cade Yacamelli and Jackson Acker to the fold, with the former emerging as the No. 3 back after a strong spring.
With how injuries have gone over the past few seasons, the Badgers may need to rely on one of those options at some point during the season, and they both now have experience after seeing their first extensive action in 2023.
For 2024, the question becomes: can one of the true freshmen develop enough during the fall and the early portion of the season to become a part of the rotation at some point during the year?
Gideon Ituka got his first reps during the spring, while Darrion Dupree and Dilin Jones are both joining the team for the fall. If one freshman can break into the rotation, this group becomes even more dangerous than it already is.
But, for now, the Badgers have a deep running back group with a mix of veteran experience and young, intriguing talent.
2025
Looking into the future, the Badgers will lose both Mellusi and Walker due to eligibility at the end of this season.
That leaves the team with six projected scholarship backs, and it’s expected that Wisconsin will take one back in their 2025 recruiting class after landing three this past cycle.
2025 will be a key year for the younger players, as the running back room will be wide open, with the hopes that Dupree, Jones, and Ituka can fill into the leftover reps and help field a strong two-dimensional group.
Acker will be in his final year of eligibility, while Yacamelli will have two more, and they’ll both have decisions to make, depending on what their role ultimately ends up being this year. Will either player look for more playing time elsewhere, or remain a part of the rotation at Wisconsin?
Then, there’s redshirt freshman Nate White, who hasn’t broken into the top group yet, but has intriguing speed coming from a track background.
Still, even with the losses of Mellusi and Walker, it feels that the Badgers are in good shape with their running back room after getting such a strong 2024 class, with the hope that the younger talent can acclimate quickly to the next level.
MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – Sugar River Emergency Medical Services (EMS) received a $20,000 grant from Only in Wisconsin Giving on Thursday.
“This is an exciting time both for our region and state, and a real ability to show what happens when communities work together,” Sugar River EMS Chief Chris Backes said. “We think what we’ve built in partnership here is a model for what’s possible to improve rural emergency medical care.”
Only in Wisconsin Giving is the philanthropic area of the New Glarus Brewing Company.
The grant will help the department purchase a new cardiac monitor defibrillator for a brand-new ambulance that will be in use this summer.
“Only in Wisconsin Giving has taken great pride in providing grants to all the first responders in our area for many, many years,” President of Only in Wisconsin Giving Scott May said. “From police and EMS, to the volunteer firefighters in our area, ensuring folks in rural areas are covered is something that is very important to us.”
Sugar River EMS is a collaboration between seven municipalities serving over 10,000 people in northern Green and Dane Counties.
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A Safe Haven Baby Box has been purchased for Wisconsin Rapids. The next step is choosing the best alarm system for the project before it can be installed.
WISCONSIN RAPIDS − The city is close to having a Safe Haven Baby Box installed to help protect babies who are unwanted or unable to be cared for by their parents.
Volunteers have raised $35,000 for the Safe Haven Baby Box project and spent about $17,000 to pay for the box. The remainder will help to cover the cost of an alarm system and installation of the box in Wisconsin Rapids’ Fire Station 2, 1641 W. Grand Ave.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes are secure, temperature-controlled, ventilated boxes that provide a place to anonymously put a newborn baby the mother can not or does not want to keep.
The project currently is waiting on the selection of an alarm system, said Linda Casper, who has led the efforts to get a Baby Box. Wisconsin Rapids Fire Chief Benjamin Goodreau is researching what system would be the best and most cost effective, Casper said. The alarm will alert the Wood County Communications Center when the box is opened. A delayed alarm then sounds after the baby is placed in the box and it is closed. The second alarm is delayed to allow the person dropping off the baby time to leave the area, Casper said.
Casper said she learned about the Baby Box when she was reading a newsletter from a state organization she and her husband belong to and found an article about the Safe Haven Baby Box. Casper thought it was a good idea for Wisconsin Rapids and contacted Wisconsin Rapids City Council member Jeff Penzkover about it. After discussions about a location that would work for the Baby Box, it was decided to place it at Wisconsin Rapids Fire Station 2.
Once the alarm system is chosen, Altmann Construction will begin the process of installing the box, Casper said. The installation will require removing bricks from the outside wall of the fire station. Before the box can be put into service, the firefighters and some members of the Wood County Sheriff’s Office will have to be trained on the correct protocols for handling a baby being left in the box, Casper said. Fire Department administration also will have to adjust the protocols to fit the department, she said.
Since the efforts to get a Baby Box in Wisconsin Rapids have become known, Casper has been getting phone calls from people in other communities, including Marshfield and Wausau, who want to know how she got the project going.
How you can help
Although the initial cost of the Baby Box is covered, Casper and the other people who have worked to bring the lifesaving device to Wisconsin Rapids still are working on raising more money. The box will need to be inspected each year by Safe Haven and the alarm system will have a monthly fee, Casper said. She hopes to raise enough to cover the costs for years to come.
People interested in helping can send donations to: Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 1150 Second St. N., Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494. Please put “SHBB,” for Safe Haven Baby Box, on the memo line so church staff know where the money should go.
Contact Karen Madden at kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
Spring practice has wrapped up across the country, and college football has officially entered its quiet period of summer doldrums.
However, the mass influx of new intel on transfers gleaned from spring ball means top recruiting sites 247Sports and On3/Rivals have updated their national transfer portal rankings, and the Badgers’ class has gained more respect from both services since the initial transfer boom in the winter.
Wisconsin’s 2026 transfer haul currently checks in at No. 15 in the country on On3/Rivals, up slightly from its perch at No. 18 this winter. That’s good enough for third in the Big Ten behind UCLA (No. 11) and Indiana (No. 1).
247Sports sees the Badgers’ class a little differently; they’ve awarded Wisconsin with the No. 38-ranked class in the nation. That checks in at ninth in the Big Ten. Still, the outlet has bumped its individual ratings for several of the Badgers’ incoming transfers.
After initially not having signed a four-star transfer portal prospect in the eyes of 247Sports, the site has bumped quarterback Colton Joseph, running back Abu Sama and safety Marvin Burks Jr. to four-star transfer prospects, giving the Badgers three blue-chip portal players. Center Austin Kawecki was also bumped to a high three-star portal prospect.
On3, meanwhile, sees Wisconsin with just one four-star portal prospect in the Iowa State transfer tailback Sama.
It’s interesting to note that On3’s transfer portal grading system evaluates all of Wisconsin’s portal movement, additions and departures combined. 247Sports’ system is less additive and only evaluates teams based on how it ranks their newcomers.
Why it matters
In this day and age, programs have no choice but to deftly navigate the transfer portal if they want any shot at success. That doesn’t always mean you need to add over 30 signees, like Wisconsin did, but it’s a good sign that the Badgers are gaining recognition for one of the most important aspects of roster building.
Wisconsin is going to be a team largely fueled by mercenaries this season. I’d expect the vast majority of the Badgers’ production, especially on offense where new faces at quarterback, running back, tight end and receiver figure to dominate reps.
The Badgers still have a solid core of home-grown players, namely their two studs at inside linebacker and a handful of key cogs along the offensive line. After all, they rank 35th nationally in returning production; the cupboard isn’t entirely bare.
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