Sebastian Cheeks didn’t have many questions about Wisconsin’s football fan base, the city of Madison or the environment he’d be walking into when he arrived on campus for a one-night weekend stay on Dec. 15 as a transfer exploring his options. Cheeks already had experienced a lot of what the program had to offer two years ago as a high school recruit on an official visit in June 2021.

At the time, he was a four-star prospect and one of the top prep linebackers in the country. Although former Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst and his staff prioritized Cheeks, he ultimately signed with North Carolina. But after playing just 18 defensive snaps and 69 snaps on the kick coverage and punt return units in two seasons, the Skokie, Ill., native entered the transfer portal looking for a better fit closer to home.

It didn’t take long for the Badgers to re-enter the picture. And this time around, they secured Cheeks, who publicly announced his commitment to Wisconsin on Thursday afternoon. Cheeks, a 6-foot-2, 230-pound inside linebacker, has three years of eligibility remaining and is optimistic that he can be a big part of the future of Wisconsin’s defense under head coach Luke Fickell and defensive coordinator Mike Tressel.

“What really stood out to me during my visit was I wanted to sit down and get to know the coaches, to establish not only the relationship but to talk X’s and O’s and see schemes and fits and why they believe that I can come in and help the team attain a level of success that they’re looking to have,” Cheeks said.

“That really played a big part into my decision because not only did they express that they wanted me, but they showed me how they were going to implement me into the defense and how they felt I was going to help the team succeed.”