Due to growing concerns regarding the coronavirus, Wisconsin has suspended unofficial visits for football recruiting, they announced on Thursday. Director of Player Personnel Saeed Khalif tweeted the news.

"We will suspend all spring unofficial visits to the University of Wisconsin campus until further notice. Safety and welfare of our campus community and citizens abroad are our first priority."

The university recently suspended all face-to-face instruction, while all non-essential campus events have been canceled through April 10 -- at least.

Wisconsin was initially slated to begin spring practice on Mar. 9. However, during his press conference on Monday, head coach Paul Chryst revealed that the Badgers would not take the field until Mar. 22, opting to return after spring break.

According to Chryst, the new start date wasn't centered around COVID-19.

"We're gonna use this week to kind of transition," Chryst said. "We just finished up our winter conditioning, guys worked really hard, and as they should, and you appreciate them doing the work, but I think we kind of need this week and next week to transition to try to make the most of the spring practice opportunities."

As of Thursday morning, UW has not announced any changes/cancelations to their spring football schedule.

A number of top recruits had already confirmed plans for spring unofficial visits to Wisconsin including and not limited to:

David Davidkov (Winnetka, Ill.)

Isaac Hamm (Sun Prairie, Wis.)

Jake Chaney (Lehigh Acres, Fla.)

Arden Walker (Englewood, Colo.)

Yanni Karlaftis (West Lafayette, Ind.)

Tyler Hibbler (St. Louis, Missouri.)

Jeremiah Pittman (Chicago, Ill.)

Mike Jarvis (Medford, N.J.)

Gunnar Helm (Engelwood, Colo.)

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Per a source, UW has not determined whether or not their coaches will be allowed on the road for the spring evaluation period, which begins on April 15.

Wisconsin is off to a fantastic start in their 2021 recruiting class. The Badgers already have eight verbal commitments, a group that ranks seventh nationally in the 247sports composite team recruiting rankings and second within the Big Ten Conference.