Wisconsin legacy Danny Vanden Boom commits to the Badgers

Even with limited scholarship numbers, head coach Paul Chryst is finding ways to keep Wisconsin's top prep talent inside the state.

Tuesday, Kimberly quarterback Danny Vanden Boom committed to the Badgers as a preferred walk-on who will go on scholarship in the spring of 2018.

"I'll be a preferred walk-on for the first semester and then in January of 2018 they'll have a scholarship for me," Vanden Boom told BadgerBlitz.com. "I camped with Wisconsin a few weekends back and things went very well. We started in the classroom, breaking down some film and drawing plays up on the whiteboard. Then we went outside to throw some routes and it was a good workout.

"To conclude, coach Chryst and coach (Jon) Budmayr expressed their interest in me and encouraged me to find the right fit. I feel like I have found that in Wisconsin."

Vanden Boom, who passed for close to 2,500 yards with 25 touchdowns as a junior, will follow in the footsteps of his father, Matt, who was an all-American and team captain for the Badgers in the early 1980s. He'll also get a chance to continue playing with his teammate Logan Bruss, who is committed to UW as an offensive lineman.

"I'm very excited about this opportunity," Danny Vanden Boom said. "I have always been a big Badger fan and having grown up going to many of the games, I feel very humbled and grateful to be where I'm at.

"It feels great to have this decision out of the way. The focus at this point is on this upcoming season of Kimberly football and making sure that we're improving daily so that we can meet all of our team goals this year."

During his recruitment, Vanden Boom picked up scholarships from Eastern Michigan, Illinois State, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Wyoming and Western Illinois. He'll join four-star Jack Coan as quarterbacks for UW in the 2017 class.

"It was difficult to tell the news to all of the coaches from schools that had offered because of the relationships that we had developed," said Vanden Boom, who is also a standout basketball and baseball player at Kimberly. "I wish them the best of luck moving forward.

"Wisconsin really liked the fact that I am a multi-sport athlete in high school. Also, we had a good discussion in the film room and I think that they were impressed with my ability to talk the game."

The Badgers currently have 10 full scholarships commitments in the 2017 class in addition to Vanden Boom and in-state lineman Matt Henningsen, who will begin as preferred walk-ons.