Joe Brunner (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) may have taken three official visits during the month of June, but his recruitment was over early into the first one. The All-American Bowl offensive tackle arrived in Madison for a four-day stint on June 3 and didn’t need much convincing after that.
“The second I stepped on campus, I kinda knew. I fell in love with it,” Brunner told Badger247. “If you’re an offensive lineman, you cannot go wrong in Madison…at all.”
Brunner chose UW over scholarship offers from LSU, Ohio State, Oregon, Notre Dame, Penn State, Florida State, Miami (FL), Michigan, Iowa, and more. The four-star tackle also took official visits to the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish.
The Badgers don’t make many promises during the recruiting process, but offensive line coach Joe Rudolph was pretty confident when telling Brunner he’d have an “instant connection” with UW’s offensive line room. Rudolph told Brunner he recruits similar, like-minded players and the four-star offensive tackle quickly formed a bond with the likes of Jack Nelson, Tanor Bortolini, and Sean Timmis.
“I didn’t believe it until I experienced it,” said Brunner. “The way we connected, it was like no other offensive line room I had been in. It was a special connection. It felt like I had hung out with those guys 100 times before. I felt like I was part of the team and I was a brother to them.
“That really struck me.”
When Brunner told Rudolph and head coach Paul Chryst of his commitment, they were caught off guard by the Top 100 prospect.
“They were starstruck,” he said. “They didn’t believe me. They had to ask me twice, ‘Did you just commit?’ Got some screaming in. I had to scream with them. It definitely got the adrenaline pumping in the moment.”
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Per the 247sports composite, Brunner is the seventh-highest rated prospect for UW in program history. Despite his lofty ranking, Brunner admittedly had some light concerns about UW’s depth chart.
Not only have the Badgers always been arguably the top offensive line factory in college football, but Rudolph and company have now been recruiting the tackle position better than ever. In the previous three classes alone, UW has signed seven four and five-star OL prospects.
“I’ve kind of realized, I don’t know why I didn’t realize it earlier, but you can’t be successful without competition,” he said. “I love competition. That’s how you become a better man and a better player.
“I’m all for competing for a spot. I think the guys in that room are the best in the nation. If nothing else, they’ll make me better.”
Brunner, who’s coming in as a tackle, but is also willing to play guard if needed, was just one of four offensive linemen offered by Rudolph in the 2022 class. One of the other four, Barrett Nelson (Fall River, Wis.) committed to the Badgers on June 19, starting a spree for UW.
Over the last 10 days, the Badgers have landed eight verbal commitments in their 2022 class. In fact, of the 20 players who have taken an official visit to Madison, none have yet to spurn UW.
“A huge part is the coaching staff,” said Brunner. “They did a phenomenal job on the visits and making sure these players feel at home. They make players believe they can make a difference in the program and they belong at Wisconsin.
“They did a great job with that.”
Brunner hopes the dominoes continue to fall, especially from in-state. The Badgers are also in deep with a trio of four-star prospects, Isaac Hamm (Sun Prairie), Carson Hinzman (Saint Croix Central), and Billy Schrauth (St. Mary’s Springs), who all took their UW official visits with Brunner.
“Just letting them know, especially me, Carson, and Billy, if we all commit, we’d have the best offensive line class in the country,” Brunner said. “We could really do something special, go win a national championship.
“With an in-state class like this, if Wisconsin can land all of them, especially with the class behind us, that’s the best two classes Wisconsin has ever had. That can do some damage for sure.”
Over the last three years, UW has signed its best three recruiting classes in school history, including a program-best No. 16 in the 247sports composite team recruiting rankings in 2021. Keeping all that top end talent at home would certainly give the Badgers a shot at four-straight.
“Wisconsin, they’re always on the uphill climb, always so close,” Brunner said. “I really felt like these last few classes, we can get through. We can really do something special.”
Bruner will enroll in June and is undecided on a major. The 247sports composite’s seventh-ranked offensive tackle has two official visits remaining at his disposal, but Brunner says his recruitment is now shut down.
“I think it’s 100 percent over with,” he said. “Very confident in saying that.”
