Wisconsin lands Fla. DB

Plantation (Fla.) South Plantation cornerback Hugs Etienne held six offers, but it was the one he received in late May that always mattered the most. On Wednesday, he pledged to the Big Ten's Wisconsin Badgers.

"I committed to Wisconsin," Etienne said. "Since I got the offer, I have been wanting to commit but my head coach had me wait, hold for a little bit, for some more offers. But I went ahead and did it today."

Etienne, who has yet to visit Wisconsin, hopes to make his way to Madison in the near future and learn more about the program. He said that before making his decision he researched the school quite a bit and also spoke with his primary recruiter, Charlie Partridge, regularly. When he finally decided, he got a hold of Partridge and told him the news.

"I told Coach Partridge and then I spoke with the head coach, Coach (Bret) Bielema," Etienne said. "Coach Partridge was really excited about the news. He told the other coaches and they were also really happy. Coach Bielema said he was really happy to have me and he congratulated me on my decision."

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound defensive back said his relationship with Coach Partridge and the Badgers' staff was essential to his decision.

"Since it is far from home I wanted to know that there would be people there for me," Etienne said. "I know that the coaches there care about me and they will be there for me."

He is also looking forward of continuing on the tradition of Florida talent in the defensive secondary.

"Coach Partridge was telling me about how three of their defensive backs are from down here," Etienne said. "He said they have two senior cornerbacks. He also said they run a lot of Cover 2. He said I would fit good into it because we run a lot of that at my school now."

Outside of football, Etienne was also intrigued by an academic program at the school.

"A big reason is their engineering program," Etienne said. "I did a lot of research and they have one of the best programs in the nation for that. I really liked everything I saw."

Etienne chose Wisconsin over offers from Bowling Green, Florida Atlantic, Kansas, Northern Illinois, and West Virginia. He had numerous other programs showing an interest in him as well.

As a junior, Etienne recorded three interceptions.