Wisconsin football recruiting: Cristian Volpentesta accepts Badgers' preferred walk-on offer

One of the interesting things that we're seeing for the Wisconsin Badgers in the class of 2016 is that the walk-on tradition at Wisconsin is starting to go national. On Thursday, the Badgers grabbed quarterback Andres Castillo out of Olney, Md, and on Saturday, Highland Park, Ill., fullback/safety Christian Volpentesta committed to UW as a preferred walk-on.

Volpentesta confirmed his verbal pledge via Twitter, with BadgerBlitz.com's Jon McNamara reporting the walk-on offer on Thursday.

Now, I've said on multiple occasions that I'm a sucker for someone that shows versatility on a Hudl profile, and Volpentesta provides that skill set, showing off a reel where he takes handoffs, runs routes, plays the run, blitzes, and covers receivers.

Where he shines most, however, is against the run. He's undersized to grow into a true linebacker as he's listed at 5'10 and 186 pounds, but he plays very close to his Hudl-listed 4.57 40-yard dash time, and he's a strong tackler. I'm not going to call him the 2019 answer to Jack Cichy, but he's definitely interesting.

Most of his scholarship interest was from Valparaiso and on the Division II level.

Extremely proud to say that I have committed to play Football at the University of Wisconsin! ⚪️ pic.twitter.com/nvoYVJIHAO

— Cristian Volpentesta (@crisvolp3) January 30, 2016