CHICAGO – Jamel Howard Jr. finally breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday.
The Marist senior went through the recruiting process for a second time after decommitting from Wisconsin in November, but in front of family and friends on the school’s campus, he finally confirmed where he wanted to call home.
He committed back to Wisconsin.
“I thought about it for a long time,” Howard said. “There were reasons why I should go other places, but none of them overpowered the reason that I should be a Badger.”
Marist’s Jamel Howard Jr. commits to Wisconsin. #Badgers pic.twitter.com/xMPmJoOGXm
— Michal Dwojak (@mdwojak94) February 1, 2023
Howard originally committed to Wisconsin in June but reopened his recruitment after the Badgers fired former head coach Paul Chryst. Marist coach Ron Dawczak said Howard always had Wisconsin near the top of his list, but he didn’t want to visit schools as a Wisconsin commit.
Howard visited Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, LSU and Miami during his second recruitment, but everything still pointed toward the 6-foot-3, 320-pound defensive tackle returning back to Madison after the program hired Luke Fickell as its new head coach.
Fickell, defensive coordinator/inside linebackers coach Mike Tressel and defensive line coach Greg Scruggs each made multiple visits to Marist to show their commitment to get Howard back on board. Howard appreciated their efforts to show how important he was to the success they wanted to build.
“Those guys did a really good job of making sure that I knew that I was needed and they wanted me to be a Badger,” Howard said.
Dawczak thought Howard showed maturity during his second recruitment. Howard wanted to be responsible about his decision, which is why he decided not to sign during the early signing period.
Howard went through the process and listened to all the different options, but in the end, Wisconsin always made the most sense.
“I thought he was very mature throughout this whole process,” Dawczak said. “He didn’t let the recruiting pressure or coaches calling him get to his head. He’s remained humble trying to pick out what school was the best for him.”
247Sports lists Howard as a three-star recruit, the 15th best in the state, while Rivals also lists him as a three-star recruit, 16th-best in the state. Howard finished his senior season with 53 total tackles, eight for a loss, and three sacks to earn the CCL/ESCC Blue Co-Lineman of the Year and IHSFCA All-State Honorable Mention honors.
Dawczak expects Howard to adapt well to Big Ten football no matter what type of scheme the Badgers decide to run.
“With his size and his strength and his athleticism, he’s going to be able to impact games in a variety of ways,” Dawczak said. “He’s going to be able to stop the run, he’s going to eat up blockers to free up guys behind him, he’s going to have the quickness to have an impact in the pass rush.
“He’s incredibly talented regardless of what scheme he’s going to go into, and he’s going to find a way to make an impact on the game.”
Although Howard appreciated building relationships throughout the process, he’s happy to be done with the recruiting process. He’s at peace with his decision and is excited to help the new coaching staff build something special in Madison under Fickell.
“I’m excited,” Howard said. “He’s an upfront guy, he loves D-linemen, he loves O-linemen, so the sky’s the limit for us.”