Badgers find their nose tackle in three-star Bryson Williams
When Wisconsin offered Byrson Williams in late June, the three-star defensive tackle already had an established top five of Iowa, Duke, Iowa State, Kansas State and Virginia Tech.
After an unofficial visit roughly 11 days ago, the Badgers closed the gap on their competition. And on Tuesday evening, UW secured a commitment from the 6-foot-2, 293-pound senior from Southeast High School in Nebraska.
"That was my first time there (Wisconsin), so they took me through a lot of things," Williams told Rivals.com after his visit to UW. "I met all of the coaches and got to talk with the academic advisors. I sat down with the head coach (Paul Chryst) and talked to the position coach (Inoke Breckterfield) and sat down with a few players at lunch. I just got to see a bunch of things that I hadn’t gotten to see before since that was my first time there.
"There are a few main things. I’m looking for a great family environment at whatever school I’m at. I want to have a great relationship with the coaches and the players. I want to have great academics because I want to get a good education for life after football. That’s huge to me. Then I want to be able to develop as a player and a person throughout my four to five years in college."
Williams, who is commit No. 18 for Wisconsin in the 2018 class, fills a huge need nose tackle. The Badgers will enter the 2017 season with just three on the roster: juniors Olive Sagapolu, Billy Hirschfeld and Jeremy Patterson.
Williams, who carries a 3.7 GPA, also had offers from Yale, Harvard, Cornell, Dartmouth and Princeton from the Ivy League. The three-star prospect reportedly has a 4.85-second 40-yard dash, a 525-pound squat, a 355-pound bench and 30.5-inch vertical jump.
As a junior, Williams earned second-team Super-State (Nebraska) honors as a defensive tackle after he finished the fall with 58 tackles 3.5 sacks and two pass deflections. In track, Williams won the Class A shot put title with a toss of 54 feet, 4.5 inches.
The Badgers likely have one more spot remaining in the 2018 class for a cornerback.