Torin Pettaway, a 6-foot-5, 265-pound in-state defensive lineman from Middleton High School, committed to Wisconsin on March 7.
Before the close of the month, the three-star prospect, in a surprising move, flipped to rival Minnesota. But after an official visit at UW to start the month and an unofficial on Tuesday, Pettaway is back with the Badgers.
A source confirmed the news to BadgerBlitz.com this afternoon.
Pettaway, who had 47 total tackles, four sacks and two interceptions this past fall, initially chose Wisconsin over offers from Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Rutgers, USC and Washington.
Pettaway, who has just one year of football experience under his belt, is the first big recruiting addition for E.J. Whitlow, who replaced Greg Scruggs on staff this spring.
"Coach E.J. likes to emphasize a mentality called alpha dogs," Pettaway told BadgerBlitz.com in a previous interview. "That means being the best at everything you do no matter what it is. You want to be the best and you want to be first, and I agree with everything that he was saying.
"I love his mentality and we have a lot of the same morals. A lot of the stuff that is important to him reminds me of my mom. Coach E.J. is excited about me and he thinks that I have a lot of potential to be great. I just need to be developed and he thinks he's the guy to do it. We are going to do something special in this class."
Pledge No. 17 for Wisconsin, Pettaway is also the fourth in-state commit in the senior cycle, along with linebacker Cooper Catalano (Germantown), safety Grant Dean (Neenah) and offensive tackle Michael Roeske (Wautoma).
Tim Simon, the long-time coach at Middleton, previously told BadgerBlitz.com this about Pettaway:
“I think what made him attractive to all these big-time colleges was how dominant he was with just 2.5 months of football under his belt,” Simon said. “So the upside is huge. He did so much in that time and yet the ceiling is much further away for him. What we’re excited about is what he brings right now, but the colleges see what he's going to look like in a few years. What is he going to look like in another three or four months? He’s going to be really good this year, but his best football is still down the road.
“He’s got a tremendous frame but he is already filled out pretty nicely. He’s right there at 6-foot-5 when we measured him. He was 266 pounds at the start of the season and he’s a lean 275 pounds right now. There is more weight to put on because of his broad shoulders and overall build.”
Simon, who also coaches basketball at the high schoool, expects Pettaway to blow up in the weight room as well.
“When we did some testing it was with a lot of our assistant coaches because I was doing basketball,” Simon said. “One of them said Torin ran a 4.7 (second 40-yard dash) and they made him do it again because they didn’t believe it. He benches over 300 pounds but I’m not sure what he’s squatting right now.
“Those numbers are going to explode because it’s a new thing for him. We do lift for basketball, but it was never really part of what he had to do at that level. Lifting was always something he did on the side. We have a spectacular trainer at our school right now and he’s really just now learning proper technique and what lifts he should be doing. Whatever he is lifting right now is going to be a lot different in two months.”
Wisconsin is expected to host defensive linemen Drayden Pavey and Kyler Garcia this upcoming weekend. Kade Pietrzak and Wilnerson Telemaque have also taken officials to UW this month.
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