Barry: No place like Wisconsin
Mohamed Barry didn't commit to Wisconsin during his unofficial visit earlier in the week, but the junior from Georgia wasted little time as he pledged to the Badgers on Wednesday.
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"I feel comfortable there and I want to be in Madison," Barry told BadgerBlitz.com. "Coach Thomas Brown being the first one to offer me at Marshall translated over to Wisconsin. I just fell in love with Madison and the staff was excellent and great people.
"They want me to come in and make an impact as a true freshman. I want to be part of this prestigious program."
Barry's mother made the trip with him and also felt strongly about Wisconsin.
"I just went with my heart and my mom was high on Wisconsin from the start," said Barry, a three-star from Grayson High School. "The family side of things all favored Wisconsin, so that was a big factor. I just see an opportunity at Wisconsin and there's no place like it. It was everything that I wanted it to be."
As mentioned, Brown, in his first year on staff, was influential in Barry's recruitment.
"Wisconsin was in constant contact with me and my mom, we were calling them all the time," Barry said. "I felt like coach Brown was all over me and kept on top of my academics. He just didn't ask me about them, he went and made sure to look for himself and that meant a lot to me. My mom really liked coach Brown and thought he was a hell of a person.
"When I told the coaches they told me I made their day. They can't wait to start coaching me and they were just really excited."
Syracuse was UW's top competition for Barry's services and he still plans to visit New York this weekend. He also held scholarships from North Carolina State, UCF, South Florida and Wake Forest, among others.
"I'm still going to visit Syracuse this weekend," Barry, 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, said. "I highly, highly doubt anything will happen. Madison is a beautiful place and I don't know if anything can top that."
Wisconsin currently has 15 commitments from 10 different states in the 2015 class.
With the grace of god ! I em PROUD to be COMMITTED to the prestigious .. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN !! #BradgerNation @BadgerFootball ⚪️🔴👐 💯💯— Mohamed Barry (@BarrySwavey) June 19, 2014