Wisconsin's 2012 recruiting class was the final one under then-head coach Bret Bielema, who left for Arkansas in December of that year. It was a cycle limited in scholarships, but it did produce multi-year starters in Dan Voltz, Joe Schobert and Vince Biegel.

The second installment in a new series at BadgerBlitz.com, Publisher Jon McNamara provides a memory or two on each scholarship signees' recruitment in the 2012 class.

RELATED: CLASS OF 2011 |

Note: Prospects are listed in the order of their commitment to UW.

Eric Steffes, an in-state standout from Fond Du Lac, actually signed as a grayshirt in the 2011 class. This route made a lot sense after Steffes had surgery to repair tears in both labrums as a senior. A two-way standout at St. Mary's Springs (a prep powerhouse in Wisconsin that doesn't get talked about enough), Steffes was essentially recruited as a jumbo athlete by the Badgers. The three-star prospect, who eventually found a home at tight end, was also a big-time hockey player, a sport he could have also pursued at the college level.

Dan Voltz was likely the most heavily recruited prospect in UW's 2012 class with offers from Alabama, Auburn, Michigan, Notre Dame and Stanford, among many others. Voltz trained with Paul Szczesny's (former Indiana linebacker) Core 6 group, which was supposed to "change the game," according to some outlets. But Core 6 always had a weird feel to it, and charges of embezzlement and NCAA violations soon followed - none of which involved Voltz, to be clear.

Anyway, I drove down to Deerfield, Ill., to cover Voltz's commitment, even though I wasn't 100 percent sure he was headed to Wisconsin. Szczesny, who I actually got along with pretty well, put on a nice show at a multi-sport athletic facility - I remember there being a Core 6 "host" and a live stream on their site. In the end, though, it was just me and another reporter from Illinois, and it seemed a little awkward for Voltz, who read a prepared statement at the start. This was pre-smart phone, so the coverage of this event would have been much different today. The trip was worth the story.