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Posted
1/29/17;
Updated
2/5/17
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NU Signs '17 Recruiting Class
Northwestern
has welcomed a new class of 19 scholarship recruits as part of signing
day 2017 (including two students who have already enrolled). In
addition to the new scholarship players, NU announced the addition
of six walkons and a transfer student.
This
year, the class appears to lean to the defense and to the backfields:
10 of the 19 scholarship recruits are primarily defensive, and seven of them play
in the linebacker or defensive back positions, while three are
defensive linemen. On offense, the 'Cats appear to have eight recruits,
with three offensive linemen and five offensive backfield players. NU
has also recruited a kicker in the class.
The
'Cats, bucking a geographic trend for the last few seasons, did not
recruit a player from Pennsylvania; instead, five recruits come from
Texas and Ohio each, and three new players come from Georgia. There are
only two players from Illinois. The 'Cats new class received offers
from the usual recruiting competitors, including Vandy, Wake Forest,
Duke, the Ivy Leagues, Nebraska, and even Michigan and Ohio State.
However, none of the class cross-recruited with Stanford or Notre Dame.
Rivals
did not give a four-star rating to any of the class; however, Scout
gave a four-star rating to Trevor Kent and Sam Miller. Both Scout and
CBS's 247 Sports awarded a four-star rating to Earnest Brown IV.
Scout
ranks the
2017 class 48th nationally, down ten places from the 2016 class. The
ranking puts NU just behind Missouri, and ahead of Texas Tech and Iowa
State. Scout has NU's class at 11th in the B1G, ahead of Wisconsin.
Rivals ranks NU 55th (down from last year's 43rd spot), above Minny and
just behind UCF. NU is 9th in the conference, just behind Iowa. CBS
ranks the 'Cats 48th (the same spot as last year),
and 11th in the B1G, ahead of Minny.
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 CBS's 247Sports.
Recruiting
is always a somewhat challenging topic for me to cover. I have no interest at all in
college recruiting. Yet, I recognize that success in recruiting is
critical to Northwestern's program.
For more
detailed info and analysis, be sure to check out Lou V.'s reporting at
Rivals and the work at Scout and CBS' 247 Sports.
DB |
Chee Anyanwu
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Buford, GA
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CBS and Scout 3-Star. Committed to NU Jan. 21.
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DE
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Earnest Brown IV
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Denton, TX
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Scout and CBS 4-Star.
Rivals 3-Star. Scout 4th in state. 25 offers, incl. Arkansas, Baylor,
Col. Duke, Houston, Iowa, Michigan, Miss., Neb., Ohio State, OK,
Texas, A&M, Vandy.
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LB
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Blake Gallagher
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Needham, MA
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Scout, CBS, and Rivals 3-Star. Scout 1st in state. Rivals 2nd in state. 11 offers, incl. BC, Cal, Duke, Neb., NC, Pitt.
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OL |
Sam Gerak
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Avon, OH
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Scout, CBS, and Rivals 3-Star. Scout 1st in state. 8 offers, incl. Illinois, 'Cuse.
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DB
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Austin Hiller
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Austin, TX
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Scout, CBS, and Rivals 3-Star. Scout 4th in state. 11 offers, incl.Baylor, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Penn, SMU..
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WR
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Berkeley Holman
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Bellflower, CA
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Scout, CBS, and Rivals 3-Star. 13 offers, incl. BC, Columbia, Harvard.
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DB
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Bryce Jackson
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Denton, TX
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Scout, CBS, and Rivals 3-Star. 11 offers, incl. Army, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Wake.
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WR
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Jace James
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Carol Stream, IL
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Scout, CBS, and Rivals 3-Star. Scout 3rd in state. Rivals 21st in state. 9 offers, incl. WMU.
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DL
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Trevor Kent
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Pittsburg, KS
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Scout 4-Star.
Rivals and CBS 3-Star. Scout and Rivals 1st in state. 12 offers,
incl. K-State, Michigan, Minny, Mizzou, Neb, OK, PSU, Vandy.
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K |
Charlie Kuhbander
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Springboro, OH
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CBS 3-Star. Iowa State also offered.
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QB |
Andrew Marty
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Wyoming, OH
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Scout and CBS 3-Star. Scout 3rd in state. Miami O., WMU, EMU, Toledo offered.
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RB |
Kyric McGowan
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Dalton, GA
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Scout, CBS, and Rivals 3-Star. 21 offers, incl. Cincy, Columbia, Duke, Minny, Miss. St., Vandy, Wake
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LB
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Peter McIntyre
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Toledo, OH
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Scout, CBS, and Rivals 3-Star. Scout 1st in state. Rivals 33rd in state. Ball St., BG, Harvard, Yale, Miami O., Toledo offered.
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DL |
Sam Miller
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Houston, TX
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Scout 4-Star. Rivals and CBS 3-Star. Scout 2nd in state. 7 offers, incl. Indy, TX Tech.
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DB |
J.R. Pace
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College Park, GA
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Scout, CBS, and Rivals 3-Star. Scout 9th in state. 18 offers, incl. BC, Duke, K-State, M'land, Minny, Vandy, Wake.
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TE |
Trey Pugh
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Plain City, OH
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Scout,
CBS, and Rivals 3-Star. Scout 4th in state. Rivals 20th in state. 17
offers, incl. Arkansas, Cincy, Duke, Illinois, Indy, Michigan, Mizzou,
PSU, Pitt, 'Cuse, Wake.
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DB |
Cameron Ruiz
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Lake Villa, IL
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Scout, CBS, and Rivals 3-Star. Scout 1st in state.
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OL |
Rashawn Slater
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Sugar Land, TX
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Scout, CBS, and Rivals 3-Star. Scout 9th in state. Illinois, KS, Rice, SMU, Wyo. offered.
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OL |
Ethan Wiederkehr
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Shoreham, NY
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Scout,
CBS, and Rivals 3-Star. Scout 1st in state. Rivals 5th in state. 15
offers, incl. Army, Harvard, L'ville, M'land, Navy, Pitt, 'Cuse, Wake.
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Rivals state ranks include all positions. Scout state ranks are position-specific.
In addition to the recruits listed above, NU announced the following walkon players:
- Cody Gronewald, punter
- Will Lansbury, wide receiver
- Erik Mueller, linebacker
- Alex Oelsner, superback
- Peter Snodgrass, long snapper
- Joe Spivak, defensive tackle
The
'Cats also welcomed wide receiver Jalen Brown, a graduate student
transfer from the University of Oregon. While at Oregon, Brown notched
407 receiving yards and four TDs during two seasons with the Ducks.
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