Coming off a visit to UW, 2023 four-star center Gus Yalden out of Asheville, North Carolina, has officially committed to the University of Wisconsin.
This is a full-circle commitment for head coach Greg Gard, who made Yalden his first scholarship offer in the 2023 recruiting class back in July 2020.
The 6-foot-8, 240-pound center chose to play for his home-state Badgers over offers from Nebraska, Rutgers, College of Charleston, and a host of other power five programs.
Per 247Sports, Yalden is the nation’s No. 12 ranked center in the class of 2023 and the No. 93 ranked player in the country.
As a junior, he averaged 17.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for Asheville School in North Carolina. You can watch his highlights here.
What Wisconsin is getting in Gus Yalden:
Stretch big man that has a strong inside-out presence.
Can handle the ball/bring it up the court to initiate the offense.
Impressive footwork in the low-post/soft touch around the rim.
High basketball IQ
Passes the ball at an extremely high level.
The question marks with Yalden’s game right now are simply finding out who exactly he is as a defender. He’s not the quickest laterally and could potentially struggle to defend against taller, more athletic big men. Additionally, he’ll need to improve his body, lateral quickness, and overall mobility in the weight room.
That said, the four-star recruit is an incredibly hard worker and is willing to do whatever it takes to win. Yalden is a team-first player that knows who he is and plays to his strengths.
The four-star center is a high-floor prospect that I believe has the work ethic and upside to develop into a foundational type of player for the program.
Overall, this is a nearly perfect marriage in terms of fit within coach Gards’ offensive system.
Yalden is Greg Gards’ second commitment from a top-100 recruit during his coaching tenure and the first since Nate Reuvers in 2017.
Yalden is now the second commitment in the 2023 recruiting class, joining combo-guard John Blackwell.
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