Abbrederis: 'All the hard work has paid off'

MADISON, Wis. -- 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 UW 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. Monday marked the first day of classes at Wisconsin for the second semester.

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 return man, he fared even better. He ranked third nationally in punt return average, at 15.8 yards per punt. He holds the school record by averaging 14.2 yards per punt return for his career.

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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Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/college_football/article_external/abbrederis_all_the_hard_work_has_paid_off/9540437

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