Marietta's Arnold heading to Big Ten

During Jace Arnold’s process of sorting through college offers, he found that it didn’t take long for one of the schools on his list to feel like family.

“It was really the family feel I got from the coaching staff and the players,” he said. “They stayed on business with everything they said and did. That was big for me.”

After receiving offers from many of the country’s top programs, the highly-recruited defensive back out of Marietta High School announced his commitment to this family-oriented program, committing to the University of Wisconsin on Wednesday.

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Arnold selected the Badgers over offers from many other prominent programs, including Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida and Louisville.

“I’m happy I got this commitment out of the way so now, I can focus on my senior year,” Arnold said. “I really want to focus on helping our team get back to the playoffs, become 1-0 every week and win a state championship.”

With his commitment announced on social media on Wednesday afternoon, Arnold became the highest-rated prospect in Wisconsin’s 2023 recruiting class, according to 247Sports.

During his junior year with the Blue Devils, Arnold had 36 tackles, three for loss, and six pass breakups. He earned First-Team All County and All-Region 3AAAAAAA honors.

“My mentality and my work ethic puts me ahead,” Arnold said. “I understand the game of football and I know when I get with Coach (Jim) Leonard and Coach (Hank) Poteat they’re going to help me expand my brand and help me learn way more.”

Wisconsin is ranked 12th in ESPN’s preseason football power index, with their upcoming schedule featuring road games against Ohio State, Michigan State and Iowa along with a battle against Pac-12 opponent Washington State to open Power Five play.

After playing against strong competition across the Cobb County, Arnold said that he felt more than ready to take on Power 5 competition.

“Playing in Cobb County and being able to go against good competition every game really helped me and set me apart from a lot of other people,” Arnold said. “I know when I go up to the Big 10 it’s going to be a smooth transition for me just because I’ve seen a lot of great competition, I’ve moved at a fast pace already.”

With his commitment out of the way, Arnold said that he wants to help Marietta’s young athletes know the standard of Blue Devils’ football.

“I want to help the guys that are younger than me,” Arnold said. “God forbid, but if I get hurt or after I leave, everything can be straight and the standard will still be the standard for Marietta. We’re at a high standard in Cobb County, so I just want to make sure we stay up there and stay where we need to be.”