Better Know a Badger: Logan Bruss
The Wisconsin Badgers will welcome their 2017 signing class to campus in mid-June, so BadgerBlitz.com will be checking in with the team's incoming freshmen as they make the jump from being high school prospects to a Wisconsin student-athlete.
Logan Bruss, a three-star offensive lineman from Kimberly, Wis., spoke with BadgerBlitz.com about how he's feeling now that his career with the Badgers is right around the corner.
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So it’s been a few months since National Signing Day – how are you feeling now that you’re about to get on campus with the Badgers? Have the last few months been a bit of a blur?
Logan Bruss: There’s still so much stuff that I have to do and am currently doing to get ready for it. It’s getting more and more real now. I’m definitely excited to get down there and get to work with all of the guys. It felt like a blur – it’s definitely flown right by. I’ve been busy ever since then. It’s gone pretty fast.
You wrapped up your recruitment pretty quickly when you committed to Wisconsin about a year before signing day – was that a relief to make your decision and move on? What was it like to officially warp things up when you signed your letter of intent?
LB: Personally I didn’t want to make too big of a deal out of the recruiting process. That’s kind of why I wanted to end it as soon as I found a good option for me. But that didn’t take long with Wisconsin getting in to the mix. To me, the recruiting process felt like it was over well before national signing day. But it was kind of cool to make it official on that day.
Would you say you went in to the process with an open mind about where you’d end up? Or did you know going in that Wisconsin was going to be hard to beat if they were interested?
LB: Yeah, I wouldn’t really say that I had an open mind. I basically had my mind set that if I had the opportunity to go play for Wisconsin then I’d go there, without a doubt.
What do you think it is about Wisconsin that helps them have success with in-state recruits? Is it this most recent run of success or just the natural pull of getting to play for the school you grew up watching?
LB: That’s kind of how it was for a lot of us. I think it was a combination of all of those things. Successful program, being close to home, being the school that you’ve always cheered for as a kid. It’s pretty much all you could ask for in a school.
Do you remember when you realized that playing Division I football was going to be a serious option for you?
LB: It kind of started right after my sophomore year. At the time I was only about 210 pounds. I was fortunate enough to play my sophomore year and start on the varsity team, but I had no idea that I would end up at this level. My coach told me that if I gained a lot of weight and had a good junior season then I’d have a chance to play at a Division I college. But even then I didn’t expect to play at somewhere like Wisconsin. It was definitely a pleasant surprise as the process went on.
What was the most interesting part of the recruiting process for you?
LB: It was interesting that there were schools that would offer me a scholarship that had never seen me in person or even talked to me before. That was interesting.
Why do you think schools do that? Did they just want to get in the boat and say they’d offered you or something like that?
LB: I’m not sure – I think it was more of them just trying to get in the boat. I don’t really understand. The first few that came in were definitely surprising to me.
Does that make a school like Wisconsin stand out when they build up a relationship and stay in touch throughout the process?
LB: For me, Wisconsin was the only school that did that throughout the entire process. They were the only ones I had consistent communication with. That played a big part in (my recruitment).
Do you have any goals for this first season on campus with the Badgers? Have you set something in your mind that you’d like to accomplish right away?
LB: Obviously I want to take care of school – but I think I should be fine on that end. Definitely this summer and through the season I want to get my strength back up and get closer to that ‘playing weight’ I guess I could say. I couldn’t really lift and work on legs a lot of the offseason because I hurt my foot in that state championship game and had to get surgery. If I could just work on getting a lot stronger and work on putting on good weight, I think that’s a good goal for my first year.
Finally, now that your high school career is just about done, do you have any advice that you’ll give to teammates or friends about what to expect or things they should know before they start their recruitments?
LB: The only thing that I didn’t know is how much work it takes to put in to get up to that level where Division I coaches might want to take notice of you. If I could tell my teammates anything I’d show them the amount of work it takes to get to that level.
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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.