For college football fans, National Signing Day is an unofficial holiday. That day is today for those fans and for football fans across the state they will see many of the names that have led high school teams within the state, stay near home.

Eight players, headlined by Milwaukee Marquette defensive back Michael Trotter, have earned scholarships to play for the Badgers and coach Brett Bielema, and eight others, which include Trotter’s twin brother Marcus, a linebacker, have been given preferred walk-on or walk-on status, according to the Badgers’ official team site and the program’s Twitter account.

While Wisconsin was the top destination, there were still other student athletes to sign National Letters of Intent today.

A pair of kickers, Whitefish Bay’s Will Hagerup and Menomonee Falls’ Kyle French, will play at Big Ten schools next year. Hagerup was the No. 1 graded recruit in the state and third best kicker in the country according to Rivals.com and will attend Michigan on scholarship. French, who has won national kicking competitions, will walk on at Wisconsin.

Kimberly defensive end Mike Hardy has signed his letter to attend the University of Iowa. The 6-foot-5, 260-pounder is the third best player in the state according to Rivals.com and is ranked as the 37th player at his position in the nation.

Brookfield Central fullback Xavier Whitacker sustained a serious knee injury during his senior season, but still signed his National Letter of Intent today with Indiana University. Little Chute offensive lineman Cody Evers, all 6-4, 317 pounds of him, also signed with the Hoosiers today.

Edgar star Justin Sinz is also an interesting story. He played quarterback, defensive back, kicker and punter for the Wildcats and received numerous offers from Division 1 schools. He has decided on Purdue today. The decision came down to what position schools wanted Sinz to commit to. And with the Boilermakers Sinz will likely play tight end.

Here’s the Rivals.com list of players and their commitments. Those with a list of players have yet to sign their Letters of Intent.

Have a player with a story to tell on their college recruiting? Tell us about it by E-mailing aaron@prepsonthenet.com.