MADISON, Wisc. -- It took longer than Jared Abbrederis had initially hoped, but he's finally earned a scholarship to play football at the University of Wisconsin.
Abbrederis, a 6-foot-2 redshirt sophomore from Wautoma, Wis., tweeted on Monday that, after nearly three years, he would no longer be paying his own way to play for the Badgers.
"Praise God for blessing me with a scholarship, signed the papers today!" Abbrederis tweeted. "All the hard work has paid off!"
The Wisconsin athletic department also announced Monday on Twitter that defensive lineman Ethan Hemer had earned a scholarship as well. Hemer, like Abbrederis, was a third-year sophomore walk-on.
Abbrederis had an outstanding sophomore campaign for Wisconsin. He caught 55 passes for a team-best 933 yards and added eight touchdowns. As a punt returneer, he fared even better -- ranking third nationally in punt return average with 15.8 yards. He holds the career punt return average school record with 14.2 yards.
Hemer played in all 14 games this season for the Badgers and registered 34 total tackles with one sack.
Originally, Abbrederis anticipated earning a scholarship last summer. But that was before quarterback Russell Wilson transferred to Wisconsin.
Following Wilson's addition, Badgers coach Bret Bielema had one available scholarship remaining, but he opted not to choose between Abbrederis and Hemer, instead awarding the scholarship to no one. He said he would wait until the second semester to award both a scholarship.
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