5 days ago
2
Wisconsin Badgers wide receiver Eugene Hilton Jr. had previously entered the Transfer Portal. Now, On3 has learned that Hilton intends to stay with Wisconsin.
Hilton played his high school football at Zionsville in Indiana. There, he was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2025. He had also been the 557th-ranked player nationally and the 87th-ranked wide receiver in that recruiting cycle. Eventually, he would choose to go to Wisconsin over Purdue, Ole Miss, and Georgia.
Advertisement
Notably, he is the son of former FIU receiver T.Y. Hilton. He went on to have a decade-long NFL career, primarily with the Indianapolis Colts. In that time, he would go to the Pro Bowl four different times.
As a freshman, Hilton played in all 12 games for Wisconsin. In that time, he snagged eight receptions for 91 yards. That was on 11.4 yards per reception.
It was a frustrating season for Wisconsin as a program. The Badgers went just 4-8 in the fourth season under Luke Fickell. In turn, there were hot-seat rumors surrounding him. However, Wisconsin decided to retain him. Instead, the school has made the decision to invest more heavily in NIL, as AD Chris McIntosh shared with ESPN back in November.
“Chancellor (Jennifer) Mnookin and I are aligned on significantly elevating investment in our program to compete at highest level,” McIntosh told ESPN. “We are willing to make an investment in infrastructure and staff. As important, is our ability to retain and recruit players in a revenue share and NIL era.”
Advertisement
It had been reported that once Hilton entered the Transfer Portal, multiple SEC schools were interested in landing Hilton. That included LSU, who is now coached by Lane Kiffin and had recruited Hilton to Ole Miss. Then, Florida also showed interest.
Expectations were immediately high for Hilton at Wisconsin. Badgers head coach Luke Fickell would even praise him going into the year.
“I think the thing I can say about Eugene is you saw a growth, meaning, like you saw the flashes from the spring, but what you saw in fall camp was a consistency, and everything that we asked,” Fickell said. “The thing about Eugene is that there’s a maturity to what he’s doing.”
Wisconsin had had a busy Transfer Portal cycle. The Badgers have the eighth-ranked transfer class in the 2026 cycle, according to the On3 College Football Team Transfer Portal Rankings. That already includes a pair of wide receivers, Jaylon Domingeaux and Shamar Rigby. However, the expectation is that the Badgers will continue to add.
English (US) ·