On Wednesday, Northwestern welcomed 14 new recruits who submitted National Signing Day letters of intent.  The new recruits joined with Parrker Westphal, who pledged to NU last December.

This year the list of new players is split nearly evenly between offense and defense, with seven offensive players (including a highly-rated running back and quarterback) and eight players on defense.  After signing a kicker last year, NU was unlikely to sign any additional kickers or punters this year.

Recruiting success for NU has moved geographically, from Pennsylvania in 2012, to Ohio in 2013, to a more diffuse effort this year.  Four recruits hail from Illinois, three from Texas, two each from Ohio and New Jersey, and the rest are spread across the country.

Scout has given four stars to tight end Garrett Dickerson, safety Parrker Westphal (who graduated early from high school, and has already signed his LOI with Northwestern), and running back Justin Jackson.  Rivals rated each of these players four stars, and also gave four stars to Wheaton, Illinois, quarterback Clayton Thorson.  ESPN goes even further, giving four stars to these players, plus running back Solomon Vault.  NU has not had a recruiting class with five four-star players in the last 15 years; it's possible the 'Cats have never had so many highly-ranked recruits in a single class.

After signing day, Scout ranked NU's class 56th in the country, down nine spots from January 20, likely due to some last-minute changes to the recruiting roster.  Scout places NU's class at 11th out of 14 in the B1G, sandwiched between newcomers Rutgers and Maryland.  Scout, by the way, ranks Illinois last in the conference.  Scout puts NU's class behind Indiana, Minny, and Rutger's, despite NU's class having a significantly higher star average than those schools.

Rivals ranks the Wildcats' class at a surprisingly low 69th nationally, down 20 spots from January 20!  , Rivals puts NU's class at 12th in the B1G, with Purdue holding the bottom spot.

ESPN ranked NU's class 41st, substantially higher than Rivals or Scout, but still lower than ESPN's January 20 ranking of 33rd in the country.

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 great interest in the recruiting process, crucial though it is.  For more detailed info and analysis, be sure to check out Lou V.'s reporting at Rivals, Nick Medline's work at Scout and of course LakeThePosts.com.