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.
Tanor Bortolini, a three-star offensive lineman from Kewaunee High School in Kewaunee, Wis., was the seventh commit for the Badgers in the cycle, making his decision in May 2019 over 20 other 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?
Bortolini: It calmed down for a while. It was really nice to know where I was going, be able to start to focus on that and finish out high school strong. Then with the coronavirus, things got a little hectic. I changed things up a little bit, but I’m still able to work out, put the work in and be able to focus on football. I’m anxious to see what happens next.
What are you trying to do to stay active during quarantine? Have you been able to maintain your strength with your routine?
Bortolini: I’ve been lucky enough to have access to our weight room, which is phenomenal for me because I’ve been able to really focus on getting my strength up and becoming stronger, faster and quicker. All my max (weights) have gone up. I’ve been able to put a lot more time into the weight room since I’m not focusing on school and sports.
During your senior year, you weighed around 270 pounds. Have you started to increase your weight or are you waiting to do most of it once you get on campus?
Bortolini: I’ve been doing a bit of both. They don’t want you to come in overly heavy, so I’ve been slowly building up. I’m about 282 right now, and I don’t really want to push to 300 pounds yet. I want to gradually build up and make sure it’s all muscle and not too much fat.
Did you enjoy being recruited, or was it something you had to get used to before you could get comfortable with the process?
Bortolini: I would say a little bit of both. There wasn’t a time where I could say I really hated it. I enjoyed it throughout the most part, but it took a little bit of adjusting to finally get use to. People are going to call you, come visit you, talk to you, you’ve got to be prepared at all times, stuff like that. It took a little bit of adjusting but I definitely enjoyed it.
You had a ton of FCS and Group of Five offers initially until you received Power Five offers from Iowa and Miami. As good as that was, were the Badgers always the dream school for you? If so, how stressful was it that UW had four offensive line commits early in its class and there was a question whether or not there was room for you?
Bortolini: I don’t really think I ever had a dream school. I was always open to every option. I was always going to pick what was best for me. I’ve always been a Wisconsin fan growing up, and I thought playing there would be pretty cool. But when I saw they had four offensive linemen, I kind of thought they were moving away from (OLs) and I should look at some other options. Initially that’s where I thought things were kind of headed, but then they started showing interest and things turned out pretty well.
Wisconsin offered in May before its high school summer camps. What do you think made them offer you before the circuit start?
Bortolini: I think I showed the dedication it takes to be one of the great players. Throughout the offseason, I was told I was too small, that I needed to be heavier, stronger, faster, all those things. I really took that to heart. I dedicated myself to the weight room in the offseason and I went up about 30 pounds, got faster, got stronger and felt the best I ever felt. I think they saw that and if I can work that hard there, there’s great things to come.
What helped Wisconsin stand out from your other 20-plus offers? Was it one thing or getting the chance to play in-state was the big draw for you?
Bortolini: Every school had great things about them, facilities, coaches, the players and people there, but Wisconsin had everything that I was looking for. I love the coaches, the people, all the players I’ll be working with have similar interests to what I have. I get along with them very well. The coaches are phenomenal. They have a great style for teaching. It’s closer to home and not overly far away. I guess I was never opposed to flying across the country, but it’s nice for my family to come watch my games and support me. It’s a everything overall of why I picked Wisconsin.
How much dialogue have you had with Joe Rudolph and his staff since you signed, especially with everything us going on, to help build that relationship and get you prepared for when you do get on campus?
Bortolini: It’s going pretty well. We try to talk every week or every other week, whenever he has the opportunity to call. It’s always great to hear from him and build that relationship. The rest of that staff has been great. They are always willing to reach out, talk, check in, see how you’re doing, see how training is going. I really appreciate that from them.
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?
Bortolini: I would say relationships matter more than the game itself. If you can build relationships with your teammates and get close to them, you can have those bonds forever. Football you can’t always count on, but you can always count on the people.
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?
Bortolini: I hope that I made a statement that I’m here to work. I’m here to work hard and show what I have. I want to get a lot stronger and faster, like adapting to the college game from high school. I want to learn the offensive system and get used to that, and really show that I am able to play at this Big Ten level. I’m definitely capable of doing it.
