8-man football standout pledges to Wisconsin
Wisconsin filled one its final remaining spots in the 2016 recruiting class Thursday with a commitment from three-star defensive end Isaiahh Loudermilk.
A 6-foot-7, 270-pound senior from Howard (KS) West Elk, Loudermilk ultimately chose the Badgers over Oregon and Kansas State but accumulated multiple offers from across the country during his recruitment. He took his official visit to Madison in mid-October.
"Pretty much everything about it (Wisconsin) had a special feeling to it when I went on my visit there," Loudermilk said during a press conference Thursday. "Ever since then, nothing has changed. It’s been a place that I feel in love with when I went there, and it has been throughout the whole thing."
Commit No. 23 for UW in the current class, Loudermilk, whose primary recruiting contact was Ted Gilmore, joins Keldric Preston and Luke Benzschawel as projected defensive ends.
"It was outstanding," Loudermilk told Rivals.com in a past interview. "I was thinking, when I was seeing all of it, it was all really impressive. I went up there thinking it would be, and it kind of went past my expectations of what I thought it would be like. It blew me away. I had a blast.
"Pretty much everything. There were a few things that stood out. I talked to a few of the players. They told me how they felt about the place, and they told me how the coaches are. The way they talked, it sounded like the kind of place I would be able to fit in, and feel comfortable with."
Loudermilk was an all-state performer this fall with 97 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions and four blocked punts while competing in 8-man football. He's ranked as the No. 4 prospect in Kansas and the No. 30 DE in the nation in the 2016 class.
"I’m not sure how the transition is going to be from 8-man to 11-man, but on the defensive line I don’t think it will be too much different," Loudermilk said Thursday. "It will be a lot more studying film and a lot more plays that I’m going to have to learn from going to 8-man to 11-man.
"I’ve talked with the defensive line coach (Inoke Breckterfield) and he’s going to put some more weight on me and pretty much see where it goes."
With Loudermilk, head coach Paul Chryst now has pledges from prospects in 13 different states.