As the summer months have heated up, so has the first real class for Wisconsin Badgers head coach Paul Chryst. That hot streak on the recruiting trail was kept up on Wednesday night as three-star inside linebacker Griffin Grady announced his verbal commitment to the Badgers.
https://twitter.com/grifgrady47/status/611313304401780738
Grady’s commitment may have been coming later this summer, but a quick jump on an offer last week by fellow three-star linebacker Dallas Jeanity changed a lot at the position. With space limited at the position, Grady may have seen the opportunity taken by Jeanty (which hasn’t been fully accepted by the Badgers until he visits in a few weeks) and moved up his own timetable.
The Dublin, Ohio native is no slouch at the position either, being the No. 25-ranked inside linebacker in the 247Sports composite rankings. He’s also the second commit for the Badgers out of the Buckeye state, and beat out offers from the likes of Northwestern, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Illinois and Pittsburgh.
Wisconsin was able to cultivate the relationship built by this coaching staff while it was at Pittsburgh in to interest in the Badgers as well. Offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph and defensive coordinator Dave Aranda were both involved as his recruiters at UW.
So, why Wisconsin? Grady sees it as a place to compete at a very high level.
“You always have a chance to win a Big Ten Championship and play for a National Championship at Wisconsin,” said Grady, via our recruiting partners at Badger247. “That’s a real thing Wisconsin can offer.”
Grady’s commitment moves the Badgers up to No. 47 in the national recruiting rankings, while sticking at No. 11 in the Big Ten overall.
Just how big could Grady be for this class? Currently, he’s the third-highest rated prospect committed to UW and his film sure makes him look all of that rating and more. Of course there will be comparisions to former Wisconsin Badgers star Chris Borland, who was an Ohio native that had the film to be a higher-rated prospect but was a three-star prospect by the time he committed to UW.
Grady’s decision could really speed up the timeline for other Badgers targets at the position, as there may be just one (if any) spot(s) available. Names to watchin the coming days and weeks include Jeanty, Jake Funk and Tymar Sutton. Keep an eye on those three names, as it may be a race against the clock to see which player the Badgers are now able to accept in to the 2016 class.
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