Final Wisconsin Badgers positional recruit snapshot: '21 inside linebackers

Over the next two weeks, BadgerBlitz.com will be bringing our readers final snapshots for each recruited position, covering the targets who are legitimate prospects on Wisconsin's board in the 2021 class. We will discuss the candidates who are committed and most interested in the Badgers, as well as those who came off UW's board.

Today, we continue with a look at the inside linebackers.

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Mike Maskalunas and Leo Chenal are the top two options to pair alongside returning starter Jack Sanborn, with Maema Njongmeta likely behind them this fall. Two of three signees in the 2020 class - Jordan Turner and Preston Zachman - enrolled early, with Malik Reed having arrived in Madison this summer. In the senior cycle, the Badgers have commitments from Bryan Sanborn and Jake Chaney and are likely set at the position moving forward.

Wisconsin was the first school to offer Bryan Sanborn, the younger brother of starting inside backer Jack Sanborn. And in December, the three-star prospect committed to the Badgers.

"When we talked about it, we talked about, No. 1, would you want to go to Wisconsin if you weren't playing football?" Lake Zurich head coach Ron Planz told BadgerBlitz.com. "No. 2, what are some of the pluses and minuses of going to a school where your brother is already at?

"We talked through that a lot and at the end of the day, his comfort level with the coaches was great. You're talking about a staff where the coaches don't jump around a lot. Once you get to Wisconsin, you tend to stay there for a pretty good amount of time. I think that made Bryan comfortable and when you look at the total package, Wisconsin had everything he was looking for."

Sanborn, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound senior, chose UW over scholarships from Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Vanderbilt and Virginia, among others. He was commit No. 6 for the Badgers in the 2021 class.

"Bryan had really good talks and a great relationship with Iowa," Planz said. "Michigan and Michigan State came in and we talked about that. But the more that he looked at those schools, the more it kept leading him back to Wisconsin.

"He felt it was the right time to put the recruiting pressure behind him. I think he wanted to go and be a normal high school kid for a year, and there's nothing wrong with that."

Jake Chaney, who visited in November and was offered in January, was commit No. 9 for Wisconsin in the senior cycle.

"The coaches told me I'm like Chris Orr but a little bit bigger," Chaney told BadgerBlitz.com. "With him graduating, they want someone to come in and be the type of player he was at Wisconsin. They think I can be like him, which is a big compliment."

Florida's District 7A Player of the Year this past fall, Chaney chose Wisconsin over offers from Indiana, Iowa State, Louisville, Michigan, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Vanderbilt, among others.

"I was looking pretty hard at Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa State, Louisville and Vanderbilt," Chaney said. "But I just felt Wisconsin was the right fit. The schools in Florida didn't really recruit me too hard, so I'm fine going out of state.

"Coach (Jim) Leonhard is really excited and he told me some of the rules for commits in terms of visits and other colleges. But I'm not really worried about that because I'm all-in with Wisconsin. I'm 100 percent committed."