Badgers Land "Freak" Athlete and D-III All-American Liam Danitz
Wisconsin beats out Ole Miss and Missouri for the transfer EDGE who recorded 15 sacks and boasts Olympic-level track speed.
The past few seasons, Luke Fickell and his staff have been forced to look for some players who fly under the radar, a lottery ticket of sorts. Without much funding to get into bidding wars for top players, that’s what Wisconsin football has had to do.
We’ve seen this offseason, however, that the Badgers have much more funding and have been more aggressive in the portal than in the past, mostly out of a need to turn the program around. But that hasn’t stopped the staff from searching for a few lottery tickets again this year, hoping it pays off big for them next season.
Meet the latest potential diamond in the rough to join the Wisconsin football program: edge rusher Liam Danitz from Division III Hope College.
The Badgers have been in the market for another edge rusher after losing Mason Reiger and Darryl Peterson from last season. Redshirt freshman Ernest Willor Jr. also entered the portal.
Danitz planned on visiting Wisconsin on Thursday and Friday. He had another visit to Ole Miss planned and was getting interest from other Power 4 schools like Missouri as well. The Badgers clearly knocked his visit out of the park because he committed to the Badgers and cancelled his other scheduled visits.
247Sports’ Allen Trieu broke the news on ‘X’ on Thursday night.
The potential knock on Danitz, other than the fact that he is making the jump from DIII to FBS, is that, technically, he exhausted all of his eligibility at the DIII level. He is currently applying for a waiver for another year of eligibility, and with how the NCAA is these days, it’s kind of expected that he’ll get it.
But then again, Wisconsin hasn’t had the best luck in these cases, i.e., Micah Potter and Nyzier Fourqurean.
Assuming his waiver is accepted, Danitz will have one year of eligibility left.
This is a nice recruiting win for the Badgers, who had some competition for Danitz.
So why would Wisconsin and other P4 schools be a heated competition for a DIII prospect?
He’s a freak.
And I mean that in the best way possible. He is an absolute athletic freak. His speed is the first thing that sticks out. Outside of football, the former Hope College star was a very successful track athlete. He ran a 10.55 in the 100-meter.
Ryan Andersen from The Dairy Raid (subscribe to his work if you don’t already) compared Danitz’s 100-meter time to former Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor in high school and Landon Gallun, Wisconsin track & field’s fastest runner in the 100-meter.
Jonathan Taylor (high school): 10.49
Landon Gallum: 10.57
Liam Danitz: 10.55
Did I mention that Danitz is 6’5” and 230 lbs?
That’s insane. He is an edge rusher who is probably faster than just about every quarterback, running back, and wide receiver in the Big Ten. In his 2025 highlights (below), there are multiple instances where Danitz runs down a scrambling quarterback, closing in on him quickly.
Last season, he had a whopping 15 sacks and 21 tackles for a loss en route to being named AFCA First Team All-American, AP Third Team All-American, and Walter Camp First Team All-American.
In his career, he has tallied 27 sacks and 39.5 tackles for a loss.
Even though his production all came at the Division III level, the Badgers still clearly think he is worth a flier, and apparently, they aren’t alone if teams like Ole Miss, Missouri, UCLA, Cal, Utah, and West Virginia have all offered or shown interest.
Wisconsin football legend Joe Thomas has been involved with the Badgers’ transfer portal recruiting efforts, joining visiting prospects at recruiting dinners. Thomas, a former offensive lineman, took to 'X’ to talk up the newest Badgers’ athletic ability.
Danitz’s speed and athletic ability give the Badgers a weapon in obvious pass-rushing situations.
He joins a room that already includes Sebastian Cheeks, Tyreese Fearbry, Michael Garner, and Justus Boone as seniors. The group will also include sophomore Nick Clayton, redshirt freshmen Jaylen Williams, Jayden Loftin, Samuel Lateju, and incoming true freshman Yahya Gaad.
I really like what the coaching staff has done with this room. It has a nice group of seniors who should be able to rotate on the field with a nice mix of some young talent like Clayton and Williams, who I fully expect to see snaps in 2026.
The pass rush for the Wisconsin defense came on big time at the end of the season, especially in the Badgers’ victories over Washington and Illinois. This group looks to be one of the strengths of the defense once again next season.
Continue Reading:
Badgers Lock Down the Border: No. 1 WI Recruit Korz Loken Commits to 2027 Class
One of the knocks on this Wisconsin football coaching staff was that they didn’t put enough emphasis on keeping in-state kids at home.
Wisconsin football transfer portal tracker
We are officially in the offseason for the Wisconsin football program. With that comes transfer portal season. The transfer portal window officially opens Jan. 2-16, but players can announce their intentions to transfer before the window opens.
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