Taiwan Deal indicated early on that Wisconsin was a school he had a high interest in and on Tuesday morning he has indicated that he wants to be a Badger, giving his verbal commitment to play for the University of Wisconsin. Deal becomes the ninth member of the UW class of 2014 and joins Ula Tolutau as two running backs in this class.
Of course, with Tolutau going on his Mormon mission first Deal is really the first back that will be at Wisconsin in this class and he won't be the last. Taiwan Deal is a big, physical, but deceptively fast back who comes to Wisconsin standing 6'2" tall and weighing a healthy 225lbs. already.
Last season for DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, MD Deal ran for 955 yards on just 130 carries with 21 touchdowns.
According to the article announcing his commitment on Badger247 Deal's high school coach saw Wisconsin and him as a match made in heaven, even stating "I think that's where his heart has been since day one."
Deal is a 3-star by the 247composite rankings and was rated as such by all three of the major recruiting services out there. He is rated as the 44th best running back in the country by the 247composite as well.
You can check out his highlight video here, but I can tell you this guy has old school Wisconsin written all over him. He's big, physical, fast, and not afraid to stick his nose into a hole and come out the other side. What sticks out the most to me is his explosive ability and his motor. He takes a hit well, powers through, and excelerates away from would be tacklers very nicely. It's something Wisconsin doesn't currently have on it's roster at RB (Clement could be that type as well). Deal also shows some good ability in the blocking game, although it'll need work at the collegiate level (which shouldn't be surprising to anyone).
With Deal in the fold the Badgers have become red hot on the recruiting trail, landing four commits in just the past week alone.
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