Recruiting Update | HailToPurple.com

Northwestern has announced the results of its recruiting drive for 2011, with 17 signed commitments. The slate of recruits leans heavily toward the offense, with 11 on offense and six on defense; there are no specified special teams recruits (making 2011 the second straight year without a kicker or punter). Seven
of the recruits are linemen.

After recruiting only one player from Illinois last year, NU has returned to the state with five recruits this year. NU continues to recruit heavily in Ohio (four recruits), Florida, and Texas (two recruits each).

Among the recruiting standouts is offensive lineman Shane Mertz, whom Rivals named one of the top 20 best recruits out of New Jersey. Wide receiver Christian Jones received four stars from ESPN and was named to the ESPN 150.

Neither Rivals nor Scout has scored any of NU's recruits with four stars. Rivals no longer provides a national team ranking for schools not in the top 50. However, they do rank NU 11th in the Big Ten (ranked ahead of Purdue). Scout ranks NU at 55th in the country, up two spots from last month, when Scout ranked NU at 57th (the "Heinz Line," with which HTP readers should be very familiar), the exact same ranking they gave NU last year.

This is perplexing, since NU's average star rating on Scout is 2.88, which is better than 13 of the 15 schools ranked directly above NU, and better than quite a few ranked even higher than that. Of course, Rivals and Scout also consider class "fit" into their rankings, which apparently means how well the fan base of the schools "fit" into their subscription revenue streams.

The following table shows the list of recruits who have committed to Northwestern. The comments are compiled from material taken from Rivals.com, Scout.com, and ESPN.

Please note that HailToPurple.com does not closely follow recruiting efforts, nor do I have any interest in the recruiting process, crucial though it is-- for more detailed info and analysis, be sure to check out Lou V.'s great work at Rivals and Scout.com/FoxSport's efforts on PurpleReign.

Congratulations and good luck to this promising group of soon-to-be Wildcats!

DE	Max Chapman	Ponte Vedra, FL	Rivals and ESPN 3-Star. 20 schools, incl. Illinois, Indy, Purdue, Oregon Stanford & 'Cuse offered.
WR	Cameron Dickerson	New Milford, NJ	Rivals 3-Star. Akron, Duke, Harvard, Indy, Vandy offered
OL	Matt Frazier	Bourbonnais, IL	Rivals, ESPN and Scout 3-Star. Rivals top 20 in Illinois. 9 offers, incl. NIU.
DL	Deonte Gibson	Lakewood, OH	Rivals, ESPN, and Scout 3-Star. Cincy, Kansas, L'ville, Pitt, Stanford, W VA offered.
RB	Treyvon Green	Mesquite, TX	ESPN and Scout 3-Star. 6 offers, incl. Memphis & Wake.
WR	Christian Jones	Houston, TX	ESPN 4-Star. ESPN 150. Rivals and Scout 3-Star. 11 offers, incl. Arkansas, Baylor, Duke, Harvard, Stanford & TX Tech.
OL	Jack Konopka	Inverness, IL	Rivals, ESPN, and Scout 3-Star. Rivals top 20 in Illinois. 11 offers, incl. 'Zona, Boston Col., Duke, Illinois, Oregon & Purdue.
OL	Shane Mertz	Hazlet, NJ	Rivals, ESPN, and Scout 3-Star. Rivals top 20 in NJ. 14 offers, incl. Boston Col., U Conn, Duke, Illinois, W VA.
OL	Geoff Mogus	Lorain, OH	Rivals, ESPN and Scout 3-Star. 13 offers, incl. Illinois, Toledo, Vandy & W VA.
QB	Zack Oliver	Baton Rouge, LA	Rivals, ESPN, and Scout 3-Star. Ark. St., Tulane, Tulsa, W KY offered.
RB	Jordan Perkins	Lodi, CA	Rivals, ESPN, and Scout 3-Star. Fresno St., Stanford, and UTEP offered.
DE	C.J. Robbins	Peru, IL	Rivals, ESPN and Scout 3-Star. 9 offers, incl. Indy, Minny & NIU.
LB	Drew Smith	Cincinnati, OH	Rivals, ESPN, and Scout 3-Star. 8 offers, incl. Cincy, Minny, & Stanford.
TE	Mark Szott	Naperville, IL	Rivals, ESPN, and Scout 3-Star. 8 offers, incl. Air Force & NIU.
DB	Nick VanHoose	Urbana, OH	Scout 3-Star. Ball State & Indy offered.
DB	Jarrell Williams	Robbins, IL	Rivals, ESPN and Scout 3-Star. Boston Col. & Minny offered.
WR	Pierre Youngblood-Ary	Orlando, FL	Rivals and ESPN 3-Star. 7 offers, incl. Col. St., Navy & Rice.