Wisconsin football recruiting: Sam Madden decommits from Badgers

Through the Wisconsin Badgers' coaching transition in December from Gary Andersen to Paul Chryst, not one verbal commit officially de-committed from the program during the initial coaching search and month of December.

Wisconsin actually flipped Dallas (South Oak Cliff ) running back Jordan Stevenson from Texas days after Andersen left for Oregon State. Jordan (Sandy), Utah, quarterback Austin Kafentzis actually confirmed his commitment to Wisconsin via call-in to a 1250 WSSP in Milwaukee at the end of December.

Now, since the official dead period has passed, there have been two players who have de-committed from the Wisconsin football program -- including one that's a huge shock considering his prevoius loyalty to Wisconsin.

Barnegat, N.J., offensive linemen Sam Madden tweeted Saturday afternoon that he has de-committed from the university. The three-star recruit did not state a reason as to why he was re-opening his recruitment.

Madden, a 6'7, 325-pound lineman, committed to Wisconsin back in June. According to Scout.com, Madden had over 25 offers on the board, most notably from Big Ten conference rivals Iowa and Nebraska, along with Miami, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Rutgers and Virginia.

Virginia Beach (Ocean Lakes), Va., defensive back T.J. Griffin also re-opened his recruitment this week, coinciding with the news that former wide receivers coach Chris Beatty left Wisconsin to take the job at Virginia.