Evan Anderson commits to Wisconsin

There's nothing like working ahead, is there? Bo Ryan and his staff wrapped up its recruiting class of 2010 this weekend when Evan Anderson of Eau Claire North committed to play for Wisconsin.

The commitment wasn't a huge surprise, but it was a huge get nonetheless. Anderson is the #10-ranked player nationally in the class of 2010 per Scout (second-ranked center), and #5 per Rivals. Don't get me wrong, I know how much — or how little — these rankings mean, but it will be nice to peak at these rankings for the next couple years and see Wisconsin in the right-hand column near the top of the list, the spot usually reserved these days for North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, and Ohio State. Those were the types of schools who were beginning to take an interest in Evan, similar to Brian Butch at that age, and it's good to lock up a homeboy and get him to Madison.

From my one time watching Evan, on television in the state tournament in North's game against eventual state champion Wauwatosa East, he looked worthy of the hype. He runs well and showed the ability to use both hands offensively around the basket. Other observers say his defense is much more advanced than his offense at this stage, but that would apply to most 6-11 16-year-olds.

So now we're done with our next two recruiting classes (with a big asterisk next to Jamil Wilson's name), and can start focusing on recruiting ... kids who are currently high school freshmen. Gulp. The thing is, UW is not alone in getting commitments from kids at such a young age. One the Scout list seven of the top 10 kids had already committed to a school.

Here's how the next three batches of incoming freshmen shapes up at the moment:

2008: Jared Berggren, Ian Markolf, Jordan Taylor, Robert Wilson, Ryan Evans
2009: Mike Bruesewitz, Diamond Taylor
2010: Vander Blue, Evan Anderson
For good measure, let's throw in 2007: Tim Jarmusz, Keaton Nankivil, Jon Leuer

So, theoretically, our 2010-11 roster is already set. It will look like this:

Center/power forward: Nankivil, Berggren, Markolf, Anderson, J.P. Gavinski (redshirt senior)
Small forward/power forward: Leuer, Bruesewitz, Evans
Shooting guard: Jarmusz, Wilson, Blue
Point guard: Jordan and Diamond

That's pretty good balance, and a pretty versatile roster. Just about all of those last seven guys will be able to swing between a couple positions, and that's a lot of height among the bigs. It's a real similar roster to the one we had this year, with maybe a little more depth at guard if all these guys pan out. Adding a talent like Wilson would be a major wild card, I see him filling the Marcus Landry role on future rosters if we can wedge him in somehow.

These early commitments can sometimes seem anticlimactic, as they take us out of the running for the high-stakes recruits at the top of the lists. But realistically, we're not going to get those guys anyway, and it's good for the stability of the program to get these verbals early.