James Thompson experienced Madison for the first time this past weekend on his first official visit of his recruiting process. It resulted in Wisconsin's 15th publicly known verbal commitment of the 2020 class.
What stood out to the three-star defensive end from the Cincinnati area while he was in town? It started with the atmosphere and energy of a UW game day.
“When I first came there, the whole entire city was packed," Thompson said on the BadgerBlitz.com podcast Monday night. "Roads were blocked off and everybody dressed in their Wisconsin gear, just seeing how passionate it was. Me personally -- my city Cincinnati -- I haven’t seen anybody packed like that or even wear the school spirit like that. As soon as I came up there, it was just crazy. Everybody was passionate about the team, the players coming in, the crowd cheering them on, that really blew my mind.
“Also just how beautiful the city is. The two lakes are really great for fishing.”
During his stay in the state capitol, Thompson experienced Wisconsin's defense overwhelming a Central Michigan offense that resulted in zero points and just 58 yards gained by the Chippewas -- something that opened his eyes.
The 6-foot-5, 245-pound projected defensive end noted UW's attention to detail and how coordinator Jim Leonhard's unit continued to play hard despite the lopsided nature of the game.
"Everybody did their own job," Thompson said. "Everybody was disciplined, no penalties at all compared to the other teams. They all just played fundamentally sound, which I saw personally, and it was just great. Working as a unit, I can see that everybody trusts each other like brothers, so that really caught my eyes a lot.”
Wisconsin true freshman defensive lineman Rodas Johnson, also an Ohio native, hosted Thompson this past weekend.
“It was a really fun experience. Me and him were chilling with his roommate, Gio [Paez]," Thompson said. "We just basically talked about his experience, how he felt, how he was a four-star commit coming in, like how he visited Wisconsin. Me and him have the same experience. When we visited here, it was real. The culture is, they say what they want to say. They don’t sugarcoat anything. He basically told me how he felt about it and how he first visited the school, it was just amazing."
Sunday, Thompson visited the academic center and spoke with head coach Paul Chryst and defensive line coach Inoke Breckterfield.
With this being his first official visit, he admitted he was a "little nervous, little shook up."
“Especially being Wisconsin, too, such a great school as that. Me, personally, I still think I was in dreamland," Thompson said.
After talking with the coaches, Thompson went back to his hotel and called up Roger Bacon defensive coordinator Solomon Tentman. The high school assistant asked the prep standout about a number of topics, including how he feels about the UW campus, if it's the right spot, and if he saw himself in Madison.
“So I decided, man, I just got to be verbally committed, I guess," Thompson said with a laugh.
According to Thompson, Wisconsin's coaches viewed him as a hard worker, a "very good player" and a great fit for the program. They project him to play defensive end at the next level in UW's base 3-4 scheme and playing some 4i, 3- and sometimes a 5-technique with his physicality and length.
Perhaps terms like "high upside," or "not done growing" have been used to describe Thompson. He believes heading to Wisconsin will make him the best player he can be.
“I feel like it’s always room to improve, get bigger, faster stronger. I am young and still got a lot of potential to get bigger, to fill out. I feel like I haven’t reached my potential at all.”
