The Badgers cornerback is coming back for one last season.
Wisconsin Badgers star cornerback Ricardo Hallman is returning for a fifth and final year, he announced on Thursday, giving the team some major relief heading into the 2025 season.
Hallman, a redshirt junior this past season, was deciding between declaring for the NFL Draft or coming back for a final year, with the deadline to pull out of the draft process being February 7th.
Ultimately, he decided to return, providing the Badgers with a big boost in the secondary after the team lost a number of players this offseason.
It was the second consecutive offseason that Hallman considered the NFL before returning to college football, as he also tested the draft waters after his seven-interception breakout season in 2023.
The cornerback’s stats took a dip this season, as he had 16 tackles and four pass breakups without an interception, as teams avoided throwing at him at one of the highest rates in college football.
Hallman is one of three returning cornerbacks for the 2025 season, alongside 2024 recruits Omillio Agard and Jay Harper. Seven other scholarship cornerbacks left the program this offseason, either due to running out of eligibility, transferring out, or intending to transfer in the case of Xavier Lucas.
As a result, the Badgers brought in transfers Geimere Latimer and D’Yoni Hill from the portal, while adding four-star Jahmare Washington and three-star Cairo Skanes in their 2025 class.
So, the Badgers currently have seven scholarship cornerbacks for the 2025 season, with at least one more addition likely via the transfer portal.