4 takeaways from Wisconsin Badgers landing 4-star running back

The University of Wisconsin football program found its running back for the 2026 class.

Running back Amari Latimer, who plays for Tyrone Sandy Creek in Georgia, announced Saturday his verbal commitment to the Badgers. 

On3, Rivals ESPN currently view Latimer as a four-star recruit. On3 currently evaluates him the highest of all the outlets as the No. 175 player player in the 2026 class.

247Sports composite rankings, whose algorithm computes the major outlets’ evaluations into a single rating, also sees him as a four-star recruit. It rates him as the No. 17 running back in the 2026 class.

Latimer finished his junior season with 1,113 yards rushing on 8.2 yards per carry with 15 rushing touchdowns, according to MaxPreps.

Here are three other takeaways from Wisconsin’s latest commitment. 

The Badgers beat out several national powerhouses for Latimer

Latimer announced his top 6 via On3 on April 21, listing Florida State, homestate Georgia, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. He also previously announced Power Four offers from Colorado, Florida, Miami, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Southern Cal and Texas A&M, among many others.

His unveiling of commitment time and plans Saturday via his Instagram story showed logos of Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia Tech and South Carolina.

Latimer's the 15th scholarship player from the 2026 class to announce a commitment to the Badgers, and he's the ninth to do so since June 1. It's been a huge week for Wisconsin on the offensive side of the ball in this regard, as consensus four-star receiver Jayden Petit (Naples St. John Neumann, Florida) also disclosed his commitment Thursday.

Wisconsin filled a key need in the 2026 class

The Badgers put all their chips for the 2025 class into four-star recruit Bryon Louis, who initially committed to Florida State before signing with Florida during the December early signing period. Other targets like Jace Clairzio (Michigan State) and Isaiah West (Kentucky, but decommitted from the Wildcats and eventually signed with Ohio State) gave commitments earlier in that 2025 recruiting cycle.

Based on who Wisconsin Badgers On SI knows took official visits in the last month, Latimer was the lone 2026 running back to do so. That was the weekend of May 29-June 1.

What was more intriguing was Latimer returning to Madison the following weekend for an unofficial visit. Credit to running backs coach Devon Spalding and the rest of the staff for their efforts in this recruiting battle.