Sting Factor: Four-star Chris Terek's flip from Wisconsin to Notre Dame
When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from one to 10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
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THE STORYLINE
Chris Terek committed to Wisconsin over the summer but that was an entirely different situation only those few months ago.
Since then, coach Paul Chryst was fired midseason. It was expected interim coach Jim Leonhard would get the full-time job but Wisconsin pulled a surprise over the weekend by hiring Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell.
That has led to significant uncertainty with the Badgers and Fickell’s direction of the program, the future of position coach Bob Bostad and more.
Through all this, the four-star offensive lineman from Glen Ellyn (Ill.) Glenbard West has been keeping an eye on Notre Dame and vice versa. Terek visited for a game this season in South Bend, he’s developed a strong bond with Irish coach Marcus Freeman and position coach Harry Hiestand and has other connections to the program, too.
Over the weekend, right before Fickell was named Wisconsin’s coach, Terek flipped his pledge to Notre Dame.
LOCAL REACTION
Just minutes before Luke Fickell officially became the head coach at Wisconsin, the Badgers lost their highest-rated commit in the 2023 recruiting class. Terek, who chose UW this summer over offers from Michigan, Iowa and Illinois, among many others, flipped his pledge to Notre Dame on Sunday afternoon. The Irish have been involved with the Rivals250 standout for the last few weeks, and the uncertainty surrounding Wisconsin’s coaching staff – specifically with lead recruiter and future position coach Bob Bostad – was enough to push Terek over to Notre Dame’s commit list.
Losing Terek is a significant blow for Wisconsin, which is now down to nine scholarship commitments in the 2023 class and just one projected offensive lineman in James Durand. At 6-foot-6 and 295 pounds, Terek appeared to be a perfect fit on the interior of UW’s line, which was a position of need in the current cycle. His personality also matched well with both the coaching staff and current players on Wisconsin’s roster.
Lastly, this is another blow to the recruiting momentum Wisconsin had in the state of Illinois, with Terek, Roderick Pierce and Jamel Howard all looking at other options. The Badgers aren’t going to find a player of his caliber with the Early Signing Period looming, but Fickell will almost certainly have to add someone in this class to fill Terek’s void. – Jon McNamara, BadgerBlitz.com
Sting factor: 9
NATIONAL REACTION
With every coaching change there are going to be de-commitments but Wisconsin has absorbed some serious talent leaving this recruiting class now with Terek gone as well. Notre Dame made a serious push for him through the uncertainty of the fall with Chryst on his way out and Leonhard taking over. It’s no surprise that he flipped to the Irish but it still stings significantly because powerful, talented offensive linemen are always going to be the heart and soul of Wisconsin’s football team.
James Durand is the lone offensive line commit in the Badgers’ class and only Indiana has fewer pledges in the Big Ten. Luke Fickell will fix a lot of problems but Terek will be missed. – Adam Gorney, Rivals national recruiting director
Sting Factor: 7