Last week we talked about Wisconsin’s issue heading in to the 2018 season at quarterback. We also wondered if UW’s recent dolling out of multiple scholarship offers at the position was more a signal of taking two quarterbacks than anything else.
On Tuesday, Chryst and Co. surprised many by gaining a preferred walk-on commitment early in the process for a 2017 quarterback.
The last name Vanden Boom may be familiar to the old-school Badger faithful out there, as Matt Vanden Boom went from walk-on to one of the stars of UW’s program in the 1980’s, eventually earning All-Big Ten honors in 1981 and 1982 as a linebacker.
On Tuesday, his son Danny announced that his commitment to the Badgers as a preferred walk-on.
I am excited to announce that I will continue my education and football career at the University of Wisconsin! pic.twitter.com/hEowi4uX9Q
— Danny Vanden Boom (@dannyvandenboom) July 5, 2016
It was an important marker for the program though, as Danny isn’t the ordinary in-state player. He is the quarterback for one of the most consistent high school programs in the state of Wisconsin, Kimberly.
This past season, Vanden Boom led his Papermakers to a thrilling 49-42 victory over the mightiest of the mighty D1 programs — Hartland Arrowhead High School. In that game, he threw for 255 yards and and three touchdowns as his team scored four unanswered touchdowns to take the title game.
Danny also led the state in QB rating, notching a 148 rating while completing 69 percent of his passes for 2,499 yards and 25 touchdowns to no interceptions on the season.
All of that adds up to a player with a lot of offers on the table and perhaps the opportunity for many more as his senior season progresses. With full scholarship offers from MAC and FCS schools on the table, Vanden Boom could’ve easily played the season out and waited on late offers to come in and assess his options at that point.
Instead, Chryst and his reputation within Wisconsin high school coaching circles paid off. Of course, it didn’t hurt that his father is also an alum like Chryst either.
Point being, this is a commitment that UW doesn’t get under Andersen and it has an added bonus — solving UW’s shortage of scholarship quarterbacks.
That’s because it has been reported that the offer Vanden Boom received was a 4.5 year for 5 deal, meaning he will pay his way for the first semester on campus and be put on scholarship following that.
Doing so helps keep precious scholarships available for the 2017 class, while also getting a scholarship-quality player in the fold for the years following his redshirt in 2017.
It would also mean that UW’s problem of having to target two scholarship quarterbacks in the 2018 recruiting class goes away. Adding one, plus Vanden Boom on scholarship would give UW at least four quarterbacks on scholarship heading in to the 2018 season and that is exactly what is needed going forward.
This move to gain the commitment of a potential sleeper at QB, while also solving the problem on the roster and on the recruiting trail shows a depth to Chryst’s recruiting game few knew existed before he arrived at UW.
Solving his QB issues without having to sacrifice an extra scholarship when he didn’t have it in 2017? Pure brilliance from Chryst and his scouting of players in the state of Wisconsin.
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