Wisconsin's 2020 signing class will be joining the team full-time in 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.
Malik Reed, a three-star linebacker from Chandler High School in Chandler, Ariz., was the 11th commit for the Badgers in the cycle, making his decision in June 2019 from a list of double-digit offers. He spoke with BadgerBlitz.com about how he's feeling now that his career with the Badgers is right around the corner. Our questions and his answers are included below.
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What was it like for you to officially wrap up your recruitment and send in your letter of intent in December? Had a lot of schools been talking to you up until you signed?
Reed: I felt very relieved. I knew where I was going, and I was ready to get to business. I was ready to get to the next level at that point and start working hard, start visualizing myself playing at Wisconsin because it was finally official.
A couple schools were talking to me. Colorado was trying to get me to come on an unofficial visit, and I think Oregon State was. Arizona and UCLA were still trying to talk to me.
Did you enjoy being recruited, or was it something you had to get used to before you could get comfortable with the process?
Reed: I would say that the officials were definitely fun. I know it’s a business, but it was a fun process for me. I like to go on trips with my family to colleges over the summer and that was fun. I definitely liked the recruiting process.
You took officials to Wisconsin, Arizona, Nebraska and UCLA. What helped Wisconsin stand out? Was it one thing that made you want to play for the Badgers?
Reed: Just the feeling I got from being with the coaches and players when I went there. It had a family vibe. It seemed like the coaches really care about their players out there. The players are great people and they all have one goal out there. Wisconsin has put a lot of linebackers in the League, too. All of those things add up.
What has you excited about playing the inside linebacker position? How has the relationship grown between you and position coach Bob Bostad and defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard?
Reed: Coach Bostad is going to push me to my fullest potential, whether I like it or not. Just knowing how good of a DC Coach Leonhard and what he has done the last couple years makes me really excited. They both are really great coaches, and I can’t wait to see what they have planned for me.
What are you trying to do to stay active during quarantine? Have you been able to maintain your strength with your routine?
Reed: I have a home gym, so I have been lifting every day. I would say I’ve been more active actually. I have a track coach, so I have been running every other day, too, trying to get faster. I’ve definitely been working hard and I’ve been hitting the weights hard. I think I have gotten stronger. I tore my labrum at the end of the season and had surgery January 2, so I had a sling on until the end of March. During that time, I could squat but I couldn’t do any upper body. My lower body has gotten a lot stronger and I think I’ve gotten faster, too.
What do you think you'll take away from playing high school football? Is there a game you'll remember or a lesson you learned that will stick with you?
Reed: I loved played high school football. It’s like a band of brothers. You just go out there and play.
My sophomore year I played junior varsity. A lot of my friends were playing on varsity. It was hard for me knowing all my homies were playing varsity and I was playing JV. It motivated me to work hard and put a chip on my shoulder from that. I have an underdog mentality and working really hard is what I’ll take from high school.
Why do you think you were on JV? Do you not think you were good enough or was it purely because of numbers at your position?
Reed: Looking back it was a number of things. Maturity probably. We were loaded that year, so if I would have been on varsity, I probably wouldn’t have played.
In a year from now, what would you like to look back on and say you accomplished during your first year with the team? Do you have any goals like that?
Reed: I want to say I gave it my all every day and everything I did I gave it 100 percent. That’s the one thing I want to look back and say about my freshman year. I know what I’m about to walk in to, but you never know, so I want to make sure I can control what I can control, and I gave 100 percent effort in everything I did every day.
