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Wisconsin Badgers add pass rushing track star who had 15 sacks at Division-III level

Liam Danitz from Hope College comes to the Wisconsin Badgers as an All-American track runner who had 15 sacks last season as a pass rusher at the Division-III level
Lorin Cox|
Hope College pass rusher Liam Danitz committed to the Wisconsin Badgers in the transfer portal from the Division-III level.
Hope College pass rusher Liam Danitz committed to the Wisconsin Badgers in the transfer portal from the Division-III level. | Adam Vander Kooy/Holland Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

The Wisconsin Badgers are betting on athletic upside with the latest addition to their pass rushing rotation.

Luke Fickell brought in Liam Danitz from Hope College for a visit on Thursday and didn't let him leave without a firm commitment.

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Danitz dominated at the Division-III level this season with 15 sacks, 21 tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries. He had five games where he recorded more than one sack.

Where he really stood out was with his speed. He ran track and field at Hope College and was an All-American sprinter.

He recored a 100-meter dash time of 10.55 seconds and 200-meter time of 20.92.

Danitz can out-run wide receivers and running backs, as a defensive lineman.

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Hope College listed him at 6-foot-5, 227 pounds, so he's going to need to add some bulk and some strength to play the edge rusher position at Wisconsin.

The Badgers could opt to make him more of a hybrid linebacker who rushes the passer, but the team's lightest outside linebacker who saw the field this season was freshman Nicholas Clayton at 237 pounds.

Danitz played for three seasons at the D-III level, presumably leaving him with one year of eligibility remaining for Wisconsin.

Fickell beat out several other Division-I schools competing for his recruitment, including James Madison, UCLA, West Virginia, Utah and California.

He was set to visit Ole Miss on Friday but cancelled that visit and all others when he committed to the Badgers.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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