Stewart refocused on Wisconsin

Like many of his fellow Wisconsin commitments, Sturgis, Mich., four-star junior quarterback Chance Stewart was stunned when Bret Bielema left the Badgers to take the head job at Arkansas earlier this month.

In the weeks since, however, Stewart has had the opportunity to get comfortable with a new setup in Madison, as well as a new head coach in Gary Andersen, and is comfortable once again with his commitment.

"I am committed to Wisconsin and as of right now I am 100 percent committed to them," Stewart said. "Unless something drastically changes, that is where I want to go to. Most of the reasons of why I committed to go there are all still there.

The 6-foot-5, 200-pound Stewart is a pocket passer who was attracted to Wisconsin's pro-style offense under Bielema. Andersen comes to Madison after running a spread offense with a mobile quarterback at Utah State, but Stewart took note of Andersen's comments in his introductory press conference about continuing the run-first offense Wisconsin is known for.

"When he got hired I had all these people tweeting at me, 'It's a spread offense, you've got to get out of there,'" Stewart said. "Of course he is going to do things a little different and have his own touch, but from listening to the press conference I think it is still going to be smash mouth, line 'em up with big lineman and power the football. I'm really not that concerned about it at all."

Stewart anticipates discussing the future of the Wisconsin offense with Andersen when the two have their first conversation.

"I haven't actually talked to Coach Andersen yet," Stewart said. "I talked to Coach [Thomas] Hammock, the running backs coach, and he told me within a week I should be getting to talk to him. I know last week he was getting a hold of all the 2013 commits and he was trying to work his way toward the 2014 commits.

"Hopefully I can talk with him, kind of see what is going on and get a feel for it. As of right now I don't know much."

Wisconsin has the most class of 2014 commits of any Big Ten program, and Stewart and his fellow junior commits already have a tight bond. That connection helped alleviate concerns in the group during the transition.

"I have talked to George Panos and Jaden [Gault]… we are all excited," Stewart said. "We were a little concerned when the whole thing happened, but we all talked and it's still going to be Wisconsin."

Despite dealing with a coaching change mid-season, Stewart was able to throw for 1,400 yards and ten touchdowns as a junior. He is now starting at power forward for Sturgis' hoops team and is averaging an amazing 18 points and 18 rebounds through his first five games.