Wisconsin has reached deep into Texas to secure a commitment from a burly interior defensive lineman.
Denton (Texas) Gaels three-star defensive tackle Xavier Ukbonu announced his commitment to the Badgers on Monday morning.
Ukponu, 6-foot-3, 300 pounds, is Wisconsin’s first interior defensive line prospect in 2025. He joins three defensive ends on the current 22-man roster.
The latest pledge breaks one he had with his rival.
For some Wisconsin fans, they may not be familiar with Ukbonu. He and the Badgers weren’t always linked in the public eye. Ukbonu admitted there were definitely other plans working for him as time went on, but the Badgers always had a quieter but consistent plan.
“They were always in the background. When I reopened everything, they just kept applying, like they were talking to me the whole time, and then I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going to go see what this is and I went , it’s not what I expected at all, it’s really nice there and the coach is the new head coach. (Luke) Fickell, so a great coach and the program is very stable. He’s very focused on developing players, and he plays defensive line, so he’s very important on the defensive line in the trenches, so it’s a good plan for me.
Ukbonu visited Madison for the first time a week ago. As he just said, that visit surprised him greatly. He also enjoyed the information the staff told him about his opportunities in the project.
“They told me they hadn’t really had a guy like me before that I could really have an impact on them in the trenches. They needed the physicality and my ability to win big games and they thought I could have a really big impact on them. Big impact, if I want to play early, everything is in my hands and I have the opportunity to play early.
One of Wisconsin’s current commitments in Mason Posture is actually one of the main reasons Ukponu committed.
“We had always talked about going to college together and just never knew how it would play out, but he told me they were trying to build something special and Coach Fickell was a great head coach. They really emphasized the trenches. In this project, it really suited my abilities, so I just had to go see it for myself and see if it was something I wanted to be a part of.
