James is No. 3 for UW in 15 class
It took about an hour and a brief conversation with his parents before Andrew James was ready to provide a commitment to Wisconsin after being offered on Tuesday.
Advertisement
And a quick chat with 2014 Badgers' signee George Rushing.
"I was talking a bit with George Rushing, who recently signed with Wisconsin," James told BadgerBlitz.com. "He had nothing but great things to say about the program. He said the environment, coaching staff and the players were all great. He loved Wisconsin and that really rubbed off on me."
"I gave it a little talk with my parents and it took maybe an hour or two before I called back and committed," James continued. "I called back and told coach (Chris) Beatty the good news and he was real excited. He's ready for me to come up there and visit. He was very happy with the commitment."
Beatty, Wisconsin's receivers coach, laid out a plan for James, a 6-foot, 170-pound junior from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., when he arrives on campus.
"He (Beatty) was really excited about the offer and commitment," James said. "Today he gave me a brief rundown on how they wanted to utilize me. He said he's going to bring me in right away as a return specialists and I'll be able to help them a lot there, as well as a slot receiver.
"Throughout the years I've been watching Wisconsin on TV and really emerge as a great program. That's really what opened my eyes to the program and made me want to commit today."
James, who has been timed at 4.33 second in the 40-yard dash, will bring speed to Wisconsin's special teams unit. He is also a standout in track at Westminster Academy.
"Track is kind of like my second life, right behind football," James said. "My personal bests in track are a 10.82 (seconds) in the 100 (yard dash). In the 200 I ran a 21.51 and then in the 400 I ran a 48.04. I think those times will definitely drop this year. So there's a lot of hype coming into this season for me."
James chose UW over offers from Bryant, Cincinnati and Temple. He is the third commitment for Wisconsin in the current cycle along with quarterback Austin Kafentzis and Kyle Penniston.
"As of now the only other two BCS offers I had were from Cincinnati and Temple," he said. "One of my top schools outside of Wisconsin would be Stanford, I really like that program. But I'm 100 percent committed. I still have a whole year left so we'll go from there.
"The commitment, it's a stress reliever for me. I'm really happy and I have a lot to work for."