UW coaches must improve Madison marketing skills

The recipe is in place, but for some reason the final product is missing an ingredient.

In college football, schools like USC, Florida, Texas, and Miami set the tone in terms of recruiting. The same can be said about Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, and UCLA in college basketball; and for good reason. The history is there, the coaches are there, the fans are there, and the weather is there.

Travel north into Big Ten territory and Ohio State dominates recruiting in both sports. Michigan is a distant second in football. And then there’s miles separating the rest of the pack.

It’s about time Wisconsin picks up the pace in both sports.

It would be naïve to think that UW would be able to immediately compete with the above-mentioned non-conference powerhouses in the world of recruiting. It’s simply out of the question. But in the close-knit neighborhood known as the Big Ten Conference, there’s no reason Madison shouldn’t be the high on the priority list of any big time recruit.

But right now, it’s not.

According to Lindy’s magazine, Bret Bielema’s staff was unable to land any of the Big Ten’s Top 20 2008 recruits.

The Buckeyes and Wolverines landed the first 10. Fine; I can live with that. But tell me how Ron Zook was able to land No. 11, defensive tackle Corey Liuget from the state of Florida. I’ll give Zook the benefit of the doubt and say it wasn’t by cheating – which may be more benefit than he deserves – but he’s doing something right, that’s for sure.

Even Minnesota cracked the list at No. 15, landing quarterback MarQueis Gray from Indianapolis.

In basketball, Bo Ryan hasn’t been able to do much better. The 2007-08 Badger roster featured one kid from Queens, N.Y. (Trevon Hughes) and the rest from either Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, or South Dakota.

Talk about home cooking.

To his credit, Ryan did branch out this past season and by landing 6-foot-6 forward Ryan Evans from the state of Arizona and 7-footer Ian Markoff from San Antonio. But neither were in Rivals.com’s Top 150 recruits.

Don’t get me wrong; numbers don’t mean everything, by any means. These lists mean virtually nothing at this point. Alando Tucker wasn’t highly recruited and look what he did. There’s something to be said for selecting players that fit the UW systems.

It’s hard to criticize when both Ryan and Bielema’s programs have been so successful over the past few years. They’re obviously doing something right. But I can’t help but wonder what would have happened had Ryan had a couple of athletes from outside the Midwest bubble to compliment Joe Krabbenhoft, Brian Butch, and Michael Flowers or had Coach B had a drop-back, pocket-passing quarterback who could start for three years not named John Stocco.

In their respective sports, Ryan and Bielema have teams that can perennially compete. But for some reason, both have trouble marketing a school that shouldn’t be tough to market at all.

Madison has it all: Great academics, social life, girls, fans, and atmosphere; everything a Division I male athlete could ever dream of.

So what’s the problem? Don’t blame the weather; Columbus isn't exactly L.A.

I have no solution; that’s why I’m typing and not on the sidelines.

But the foundations are in place; both programs are now consistent national contenders. It’s time to put in the effort to bring some national recruits to Madison.