4-star RB Jalen Berger signs with Wisconsin

February 5, 2020
|In Badgers
|By Zach Heilprin

Wisconsin finished off its 2020 recruiting class Wednesday with the signature of running back Jalen Berger.

The 4-star recruit made it official during a signing ceremony at his high school, Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.).

Berger announced his commitment to the Badgers at the All-American Bowl in San Antonio in early January, picking them over offers from UCLA, LSU, Rutgers and others. But Greg Schiano, the new coach for the Scarlet Knights, and others didn’t give up, heavily pursuing the No. 15 running back in the country. But he never wavered, sticking with Wisconsin.

According to the 247Sports Composite, Berger is rated as the No. 3 player in the state of New Jersey. He is the second-highest rated running back (John Clay, 2007) the Badgers have landed in the recruiting rankings era.

Berger’s hometown of Ramsey, N.J., is about 150 miles north of Salem, N.J., the town that produced Wisconsin star Jonathan Taylor.

Before Taylor and Berger, the Badgers had also hit it big with several other players from the state, including Ron Dayne, Anthony Davis and Corey Clement.

The 6-foot, 205-pound Berger is the lone scholarship running back in Wisconsin’s 2020 class. It’s a class that now ranks No. 25 in the country. That would be the highest finish in the recruiting rankings era for the Badgers.

Here’s the full class of scholarship players: