Two major criticisms that Luke Fickell has faced during his tenure with the Wisconsin Badgers have been an inability to land major recruits from Wisconsin and not bringing in elite tight end recruits.
Heralded 2027 four-star, in-state tight end Korz Loken’s January commitment to the Badgers is helping to change both narratives, and I recently had the chance to chat with him about a wide range of topics.
Here are five cool tidbits of information about Loken that you may not have known.
5. Football isn’t the only sport he excels in
Like Wisconsin tight end icon Jake Ferguson was for Madison Memorial, Loken is an outstanding hooper for 8-3 Iola-Scandinavia, where the 6’5″ Junior forward has been a big part of his team’s success.
In addition, he finished third in discus at the 2025 WIAA State Championships as a sophomore.
4. His cousin played basketball for Illinois
Certified Badger-slayer Marcus Domask, a former Mr. Basketball in the state who played for Illinois and not Wisconsin (oops on that one, Greg Gard, although Domask started his career at lightly-regarded Southern Illinois), is Loken’s cousin and, perhaps, where he learned some of his hoops skills as a youth.
3. Loken’s hometown of Iola, Wisconsin, is very small
A tiny village located in Waupaca County in north-central Wisconsin, Iola has only 1,236 residents. One of its big events is the Iola Car Show, which draws in over 100k folks every year. The town’s most famous NFL player is Dave Krieg, who spent 18 years in the league and won Pro Bowl honors three times (he played high school ball for DC Everest).
“It’s such a tight-knit community. Everybody knows everybody,” Loken told me. “Here in Iola…we have some amazing people, and we have some amazing coaches.”
2. New national champion Indiana offered him last fall
A testament to Loken’s deep and abiding lifelong love of the Badgers (more on that, below) is the fact that he committed to Luke Fickell even after getting an offer from Curt Cignetti in November.
In fact, Loken holds offers from 16 other schools, including Notre Dame, Illinois, and Florida State.
1. Loken is a lifelong Wisconsin Badger fan
While it has been all too common for talented Wisconsin prep players to look elsewhere for their college team, Loken has had his eyes fixed firmly on the Badgers since he was a little kid. Here’s what Loken said about the feeling of being offered by the Badgers.
“It was such an amazing feeling, because I’ve grown up a Badger fan living in Wisconsin. That opportunity was amazing for me.”
