Staying home? Elite 2025 basketball recruit Davion Hannah reportedly will now remain in Wisconsin for high school. That’s good news for the Badgers.

Hannah, a rising junior and recruiting priority for UW, announced in early July he would play for an Arizona prep school, but apparently changed his mind.

By Peter Cameron, BADGER STRIPES

Milwaukee product Davion Hannah, a 6’5″ combo guard and a major recruiting target of the Badgers, announced earlier this month he was leaving the state to attend his junior season at a prep school in Arizona. But apparently he has changed his mind and is now returning to Nicolet High School for his junior year, reports Mark Miller of Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook.

Hannah did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Badgers Head Coach Greg Gard and his assistant coaches are attending as many of his games as possible. Hannah staying in Milwaukee will allow the staff to continue building the relationship in-person and bring him back for more games and campus visits.

Marquette Coach Shaka Smart is hot after Hannah also, but UW appears to be in good position to sign him. He’s made several visits to Madison. He has said the Badgers have “shown the most love” and called UW assistant coach Sharif Chambliss, “one of my father figures,” according to BadgerExtra.

“It’s feels like home at Wisconsin,” he told Rivals in January.

But guessing what a teen will decide is a fool’s game. And Hannah has lots of potential suitors. He has an offer from Tom Izzo and Michigan State and has visited East Lansing. He also has offers from a plethora of high majors including Oregon, Auburn and Marquette. More are sure to come.

A recent change in college athletics means student-athletes can now make money on their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). Schools can not directly pay student-athletes, but they can receive compensation for things like appearing in commercials, signing autographs and giving speeches. The UW Athletic Department aggressively promoted this to recruits, creating the Varsity Collective to help facilitate deals for student-athletes and announcing in a promotional campaign “Wisconsin is all in on NIL.”

“You can make real NIL money at Wisconsin,” NCAA All-American and NBA lottery pick Johnny Davis is quoted in one online post.

UW’s large, intense and deep-pocketed fan base could give recruiting efforts an edge over other programs across the board. One reason Hannah may have considered transferring to high school in Arizona is because the state may allow NIL payments to high school players, while Wisconsin explicitly does not.

Hannah is long and athletic with good body control, allowing him to attack the basket aggressively and finish from a variety of angles. He’s of course young but has already developed a pull-up jump shot from the mid-range that makes him a dangerous scorer.

In his sophomore year at Nicolet, he averaged nearly 20 points per game and 10 rebounds per game and led the school to the state tournament. He went to Milwaukee Academy of Science as a freshman, helping lead the school to its first state appearance in 2022.

Hannah would be the Badgers’ first recruit from Wisconsin’s largest city in 20 years. Marcus Landry of Milwaukee Vincent, who arrived on campus in 2005, was the last.

In other 2025 men’s basketball recruiting news…

The 2025 Wisconsin high school class is deep. Gard and staff have already offered 6’10 Kai Rogers of Wauwatosa West, another priority recruit, as well as 6’3″ shooting guard Zach Kinziger of De Pere, 6’4″ LaTrevion Fenderson of The Prairie School in Racine, and 6’10” Will Garlock of Middleton.

Garlock has also received offers from Marquette, Penn State and Virigina Tech.

The Badgers have not yet offered 6’8″ Xzavion “Zay” Mitchell out of Oshkosh North, the alma mater of NBA All-Star (and shoulda-been-a-Badger) Tyrese Haliburton. Mitchell plays with Kinziger on the Team Herro AAU team, started by Tyler and his father Chris. Gard and staff are closely watching and evaluating Mitchell, so a scholarship offer may come.

Gard is following Mitchell on Twitter, for what it’s worth.

The Badgers have also offered a handful of out-of-state recruits in the 2025 cycle, which you can see on 247.

I’m told Gard and staff have adjusted their recruiting strategy by making more offers. The program got burned badly when they held one of two available scholarships in the 2018 class for Joey Hauser of Stevens Point, rather than offering it to Haliburton also. Without an offer from the Badgers, Haliburton went to Iowa State, and Hauser joined his brother at Marquette.

But Gard is still picky when it comes to recruits, frequently noting that kids must be good fits with the rest of the team.

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