Will Wisconsin’s Nate White make an instant impact? Top in-state recruit ready for chance

Uncertainty hovered over Wisconsin football last fall like a rain cloud, and many high school commits in the 2023 recruiting class weren’t sure what to think. It was an unprecedented time in which the Badgers fired their head coach at midseason, used an interim coach for the next seven games and then went in a different direction with their future under a new regime led by Luke Fickell.

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As the early signing period loomed on Dec. 21, prospects needed to determine their best course of action. Six decommitted from the Badgers during a chaotic window that forced coaches to scramble in putting the pieces back together.

One player who never wavered was running back Nate White.

White, the No. 1 player in the state of Wisconsin, still heard from multiple suitors and specifically recalled Iowa State making another push for him. But his mind was set on Madison.

“Mainly because I started out liking Madison because of what it was, not just the coaches,” White said. “And then throughout that whole process, my main coaches were still there keeping me with them.”

White said he spoke the most to then-offensive coordinator Bobby Engram. And five days after Fickell was hired Nov. 27, Fickell made sure White understood during an in-person home visit the value of the opportunities Wisconsin could offer him.

White’s decision to stick with Wisconsin should be mutually beneficial because of what he can offer the Badgers.

“I think there’s a bright future for him,” Fickell said on signing day in December. “Very dynamic as a football player. He might not look like somebody maybe walking in the door like some of the historic Wisconsin tailbacks have looked like. But it’s amazing what those guys will look like after about two years here, too. He’s got the attributes that we’re talking about. I think he’s got the well-roundedness that really makes, from what I know, guys really successful here.”

White, who is set to arrive on campus next month, is a speedy 6-foot tailback from Milwaukee’s Rufus King High who has the shiftiness to evade defenders and the power to lower his shoulder and knock would-be tacklers to the ground. His dynamic playmaking ability, which includes quickness with the ball in space, would appear to be an ideal match for Wisconsin’s up-tempo Air Raid approach under offensive coordinator Phil Longo.

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“I think he moves a little different than other kids that I’ve coached,” Rufus King football coach Tom Wozniak said. “He’s really adept as a running back at setting up blocks and then making kids miss, even when he doesn’t have a block. I think that’s something the staff at Wisconsin is looking for in a running back.

“He’s good at picking holes. So with a little bit more spacing in the offense, I think he’s going to fit in really well just because of that ability to wiggle and find a little gap.”

White earned scholarship offers during his recruitment from Wisconsin, Iowa State, Kansas, Minnesota, Northern Illinois, Purdue, Vanderbilt and Western Michigan before he committed to the Badgers last May. What schools saw was a player with natural instincts and athleticism and a tremendously high ceiling at the position.

Wozniak said White made the varsity as a freshman but battled a nagging hamstring injury all year. He was limited to just three carries for 18 yards. His sophomore season was wiped out because the school did not play any games due to the pandemic. White began his junior season at running back but moved to quarterback to help the team, though he was used a runner. That meant his only full varsity season as a true running back came as a senior.

White earned second-team all-state honors from the Associated Press by carrying 135 times for 1,345 yards and 26 touchdowns. He was named his conference most valuable player and won the offensive player of the year award. Over the past two seasons, he carried 270 times for 2,508 yards — 9.3 yards per attempt — with 46 touchdowns. He added 13 receptions for 191 yards and three touchdowns. Last season, he returned a kickoff 87 yards for a score. He also qualified for the Division 1 state track and field championships in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.

White was the only in-state player Wisconsin offered a scholarship to in the 2023 recruiting class during an unusual down year for prospects in the state. But his commitment was notable because it marked the sixth consecutive cycle in which the Badgers signed the top-ranked player in the state. He is the only running back arriving on scholarship for Wisconsin in the class. Running back Jaquez Keyes had been committed to the Badgers, but he and the new staff agreed to part ways in early December. Keyes signed with Wake Forest.

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White is a man of few words, but he doesn’t lack for confidence. When asked if there was a specific game from his high school football career that showed him how good he could be, he replied simply: “All of them.” It remains to be seen how quickly he can adjust to the college game, but there could be an early opportunity for him depending on how things shake out with Wisconsin’s No. 3 running back spot.

Braelon Allen and Chez Mellusi have established themselves as the top two tailbacks, and they will earn the bulk of the carries. Wisconsin exited spring practices without a defined third running back. Jackson Acker and Cade Yacamelli, both scholarship players, are leading candidates. Walk-on Grover Bortolotti also earned substantial work this spring. White said he is optimistic about what he can show during preseason practice to potentially work his way into the rotation.

“I would say it all depends on what happens once I get up there,” White said. “To me, anything is possible right now.”

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Even if White doesn’t immediately break through, he is expected to be a significant piece to Wisconsin’s future at running back. Mellusi is a fifth-year senior, and Allen hopes to declare for the NFL Draft following the upcoming season. That would leave Wisconsin with three scholarship running backs for 2024 who would be returning players, though the Badgers will fill out the roster with recruits in the 2024 class as well as potential transfers.

“That’s another one of those positions that can turn over pretty quick,” Fickell said. “So you’ve always got to have some depth there and you’ve got to have some confidence in those young guys.”

(Photo: Courtesy of Rufus King High School)