MADISON, Wis. — Derek Jensen didn’t know where his college football path would lead him when he completed his junior season of high school in November, but he felt fairly certain of one thing: That road would not be taking him to play at Wisconsin. Despite starring as a right tackle for Hartland Arrowhead — located 65 miles from Camp Randall Stadium — he had no scholarship offer from the Badgers, no clear understanding as to why and no desire to wait around for the coaching staff to potentially change its mind.

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By that time, he already had earned nine scholarship offers, including from four Big Ten schools. The more he examined his options in the ensuing months, the more strongly he felt about picking Iowa, which had offered him in March 2022 and continued to show interest in him.

So the fact that Jensen committed to Wisconsin on Saturday at the end of an unofficial visit spoke volumes about how the relationship between Jensen and Wisconsin had evolved and how much the Badgers’ opinion of him had changed.

Staying home!!! 🟥⬜️🦡 @CoachFick @CoachBicknell @CoachPhilLongo @BadgerFootball @WisFBRecruiting @CoachHarris28 @CoachLinares #committed #OnWisconsin #Badgernation

— Derek Jensen (@DerekJensen2024) April 2, 2023

The reason? Head coach Luke Fickell, offensive line coach Jack Bicknell Jr. and a new staff that valued his talent in a different scheme.

“I wasn’t really sure what was going on with the previous staff,” Jensen said. “I just felt like our interactions were a little bit awkward and it felt kind of forced. But as soon as the new staff came in, it was the opposite, a complete 180. It was awesome to see.”

Jensen, a 6-foot-7 and 330-pound junior, is the fourth committed prospect in Wisconsin’s 2024 recruiting class and the second from inside the state, joining Waunakee tight end Rob Booker II. Both are rated as top-five players in Wisconsin in the 247Sports Composite. The other commits are four-star quarterback Mabrey Mettauer and four-star tight end Grant Stec. Jensen is a three-star prospect and the No. 33 offensive tackle in the 247Sports Composite, though Rivals rates him as a four-star player.

Wisconsin has demonstrated it can be especially choosy with which offensive linemen to actively pursue, given the high level of interest the Badgers command from prospects at the position. Seven linemen on the current roster were four- or five-star prep players. Jensen was not a priority prospect under the previous staff, as Wisconsin instead focused its efforts on two other in-state offensive linemen: four-star prospects Donovan Harbour and Nathan Roy. Jensen’s teammate at Arrowhead, three-star left tackle Garrett Sexton, has amassed nearly 20 scholarship offers and does not have one from Wisconsin, though the current staff had him up for a visit last weekend.

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But Jensen’s mom, Hilary, said it was the way in which the Badgers communicated — or didn’t communicate — that initially turned the family off from Wisconsin. In February 2022, Paul Chryst moved tight ends coach Mickey Turner over to lead recruiting efforts and switched Bob Bostad from inside linebackers coach to offensive line coach. As the new pieces fell into place, Hilary described a “disconnect” with the staff then.

“I think the Badgers were going through a really tough time organizationally,” Hilary said. “Their recruiting wasn’t up to snuff, they were having some challenges internally and when we visited, this makes me sad to say, it was disappointing. There’s no other word for it. There was a lot of interest. Coaches would show up and they would watch him at track practice or work out. They were always kind of hovering in the background, but it never came to a point.”

Jensen, who attended Wisconsin’s 2021 season opener as a recruit, returned to campus with his family that March for a big recruiting weekend and left without a scholarship offer. As they drove home, they saw on Twitter that two other in-state recruits who visited — Harbour and running back Corey Smith — had earned offers. Communication with Jensen cooled, so he began participating in camps at other programs, including Ohio State and Alabama. Hilary said Bostad spoke to the family by phone in May and wanted to know why Jensen wasn’t looking at Wisconsin first and hadn’t scheduled a camp visit for June, which Hilary described as “a little bizarre” given that they hadn’t heard from him since March.

In September, Roy became the next in-state offensive lineman from the class with an offer. By October, Chryst was fired following a 2-3 start to the season, Jim Leonhard took over as interim coach and the future direction of the program became unclear.

“I think they were waiting to see his maturation,” Arrowhead football coach Matt Harris said. “His body has changed. Now that he’s kind of matured in his size and gotten out of the gangly stage a little bit, maybe the last staff still would have offered him. It wasn’t going great. It’s hard for kids when they walk into every head coach’s office and they get an offer and then the one at your hometown doesn’t.”

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That all changed after Fickell was hired to lead the program in late November. During his first week on the job, he visited several high schools in the state, including Arrowhead. Bicknell joined the staff from North Carolina and immediately took a liking to Jensen, who could play tackle or guard at Wisconsin. Jensen said Bicknell liked his ability to move in space and pass protect in addition to his size.

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Hilary said the conversations praising her son’s nastiness on the field and ability to use his hands were validating. Jensen returned to campus in late January for a junior day visit right after he had earned scholarship offers from Purdue and Michigan State, and the Badgers literally rolled out the red carpet as he and other prospects entered the football facility while “Jump Around” played from speakers. Wisconsin extended him a scholarship offer on that visit.

“We hadn’t even gotten in the door yet, and this is a change,” Hilary said. “We get in and the energy was palpable. And not just from the coaches. Not just from the recruiters. It was every stinking staff member. I didn’t care if you were passing someone who was handing out Gatorades or putting lunch together, the whole building was alive.”

The Jensen family visited campus two Saturdays ago to watch Wisconsin’s first spring football practice. But the Madison area was hit with nearly a foot of snow, so they arrived late and missed the pre-practice meetings with coaches. They returned this past Saturday for the full experience. Jensen committed after practice while sitting in Fickell’s office.

“It is obviously a school known for its O-linemen,” Jensen said. “Those spots can fill up. But I didn’t really feel any pressure. I just felt like it was the right spot. I was sitting here thinking, ‘What am I doing? I’m just wasting time at this point.’”

Harris called Jensen the biggest high school player he had ever seen, someone who is “tenacious and mean” on the field. Jensen’s dad, Jack, said his son registered in the 99th percentile as a baby for his height and weight. But he didn’t realize Derek had the potential to be a football force until middle school, when Jack was one of his coaches.

“When you get to seventh grade, none of his buddies want to go up against him in practice and all of us coaches have to take turns getting our asses kicked by him,” Jack said. “I’m pretty sure I got a concussion in eighth grade from him putting me on the ground. I was seeing stars.”

Jensen wrestled for the varsity team as a freshman but reached 300 pounds by his sophomore year and had to give up the sport because he exceeded the 285-pound heavyweight limit and was too big to cut that much weight. As a junior, he earned first-team all-state from the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association and second-team all-state from the Associated Press for an Arrowhead team that went 9-3 and reached the quarterfinals of the Division 1 playoffs.

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Harris said practices were often harder for Jensen than the games because he was pitted against Iowa State defensive line commit Jace Gilbert every day. Jensen said he didn’t allow a sack all year and credited one-on-one matchups with Gilbert for preparing him.

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“I’ve been doing his Hudl highlights for him,” Jack said. “And it almost gets so boring because he’s so good at what he’s doing. His highlights are hard to pick. I made his first highlight reel for him this year and he said, ‘Dad, that’s too short. It’s got to be longer.’ So I went through again and he’s just killing everyone. Nothing is getting through him.”

Jensen takes comfort in knowing that, after playing the waiting game, he has finally found a fit in Madison. But he is dedicated to pushing himself further. He lifts weights on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and spends Wednesday working out with Brad Arnett at NX Level Sports Performance. Arnett has a son, safety Owen Arnett, on the Badgers, and has trained numerous players across the state over the years, including J.J. Watt. Jensen said the goal is to hone his flexibility and mobility, two traits that will be vital in Wisconsin’s Air Raid system.

“He’s not going to look the same on the field this year,” Harris said. “He’s going to be even more powerful and dominant than he was last year. Another year of that and a good year or so of continuing that at Wisconsin, and he could be really special.”

(Top photo: Courtesy of Hilary Jensen)