Obasih honored to be a Badger
Brookfield (Wisc.) Central defensive end Chikwe Obasih has made many visits to Wisconsin's campus in Madison over the last several months. He would not count this past weekend's trip among his best, but before Sunday was over he had committed to play for the Badgers.
"I've been tempted a couple other times," Obasih said. "I had extra pressure this weekend. It wasn't as good as the other times I went down, but I still left loving it so I knew that meant I'd be happy there for a long time."
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Wisconsin has been the team to beat for the majority of Obasih's commitment. He had originally planned to wait until the end of the Spring Evaluation Period, but the opportunity to stay in-state and play for the home team was too much to pass on.
"It is a big honor for me," Obasih said. "My school has sent six or seven to the Badgers, so the tradition at my school is going on and you just get a sense of pride from the entire state."
One aspect that did go well for Obasih this past weekend was the opportunity to look deeper into Wisconsin's academics. The four-star prospect carries a 3.94 GPA in the classroom and has high academic as well as athletic goals, and he feels Wisconsin can provide for him on both fronts.
"Most of the other schools I was looking at - few had had the right field," Obasih said. "I want to study actuarial science, risk management and statistics at the Business School and Madison has exactly that."
From a football standpoint, the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Obasih sees an opportunity for playing time in the near future.
"They have a huge senior class coming when I get there, so I would probably plan to redshirt," Obasih said. "After that, they said I would probably be in the rotation for d-end. I want to come in and prove that I have what it takes to contribute and try to make an impact."
Obasih was one of three prospects to have committed to Wisconsin this weekend following the spring game, and several more came away listing the Badgers higher on their list.
"Coach [Charlie] Partridge, I have a close relationship with him and he was trying to get me to talk with Alex Collins, the Miami commit," Obasih said. "I heard that Collins loved it and so did [Rob] Wheelwright.
"Alec [James] is one of my good friends and we've known each other since the fifth or sixth grade. It would be pretty cool if we played together, but it's his decision and I'll back him up 100 percent."