Wisconsin football lands transfer Tommy Brunner

Last week the Badgers were on a heater in the recruiting world picking up multiple prospects in just a short few days. That group was headlined by 4-star offensive lineman Joe Brunner out of Whitefish Bay. Brunner, the top player in the state of Wisconsin for the 2022 class, committed to Wisconsin on June 29 and it seems like he put his recruiter hat on right away as he helped land a transfer to Wisconsin in his brother Tommy Brunner.

Thomas Brunner was a part of the 2019 recruiting class and had interest from multiple schools across the Midwest. He camped with the Badgers and took an unofficial visit in 2018, but ended up committing to Northern Illinois after receiving a scholarship offer. In 2019 Brunner redshirted at NIU and was with the Huskies in 2020 as well. However, after two years there Brunner entered into the transfer portal on March 25.

It appears that Thomas was waiting for his brother Joe to make his decision, as just a week after Joe’s commitment Thomas announced he joining the Wisconsin Badger family as well.

Tommy played as both an outside linebacker and defensive end at the high school level, and it would make sense that he gives it a go at one of those two spots at Wisconsin. It’s clear that there is athleticism there, and it’s possible that a change of scenery may allow Brunner to really take off at the collegiate level.

We’ve seen the Wisconsin coaching staff go after brothers quite a bit recently, and so far it has worked out pretty well. Currently, Wisconsin has three sets of brothers in the Rucci brothers, the Sanborn brothers and the Chenal brothers. Each of those has worked out pretty well, and the track record of guys like those Watt brothers (I think that’s their name?) should allow Wisconsin to feel pretty comfortable on their decision to pursue both Tommy and Joe Brunner.