Wisconsin basketball adds a preferred walk-on commitment from one of the top state seniors

One of the state's top class of 2020 basketball prospects is headed to Madison. 

Arrowhead forward Carter Gilmore has verbally committed to the University of Wisconsin as a preferred walk-on, he announced Thursday night on Twitter. 

Gilmore, a 6-7 wing, possesses a versatile offensive game. He frequently served as the primary initiator of the Arrowhead offense and has the ability to shoot from the perimeter, shooting over 40% on three-pointers as a junior.

He was named Classic 8 Conference player of the year in 2018-19 while averaging 19.9 points per game.

Gilmore joins brothers Johnny and Jordan Davis from La Crosse Central as well as Lorne Bowman from Michigan in UW's 2020 recruiting class. 

Gilmore reportedly held scholarship offers from seven Division I schools, including DePaul, Indiana State and UW-Milwaukee. 

UW was in on Gilmore early, with a representative attending a handful of his games at Arrowhead throughout his junior season. The Badgers coaching staff became even more familiar with Gilmore during the summer when he played for his AAU team, Phenom University, which included other high-profile recruits Jalen Johnson and Patrick Baldwin Jr.

UW also had familiarity with the Gilmore name even before Carter was on its radar.  

Carter's father, Brian, was on the coaching staff of Bo Ryan's first Division III national championship team at UW-Platteville in 1991.

At the same time, Carter's mother, Stephanie, was a sharpshooter on the Platteville women's team; she was inducted into the WIAC Hall of Fame in 2018. 

When Wisconsin assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft drove to Arrowhead for one of Gilmore's games last year, he texted the former UW coach Ryan to let him know. Ryan’s response: “If he shoots anything like his mom that’s a good sign.”

Over the past two years, the Badgers had focused extensively on Gilmore's AAU teammate Johnson, who committed to Duke in July. With Johnson off the board, Gilmore was one of the state's next-best available wings.

Contact Curt Hogg at chogg@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @CyrtHogg.