Basketball Recruiting Update: NU gets first 2011 commitment

According to this article posted yesterday on ESPNChicago.com, Northwestern has gotten a commitment from David Sobolewski, a 6'1" combo guard from nearby Benet Academy who will be a senior in the fall. Sobolewski averaged 16 points per game last season while leading his team to a Class 4A super-sectional, and said that signing with the 'Cats "was a no-brainer for me when they offered." While it's nice to see a kid sign early and seem excited about the prospect of playing for Northwestern, it's easy to see why his decision was such a no-brainer, as the other schools interested in Sobolewski were Bradley, Bucknell, Harvard, Northern Iowa, Princeton and William and Mary; not exactly college basketball's elite.

Clearly Sobolewski is smart if Harvard and Princeton were interested, but it's unclear how talented he is, as it's a bit concerning that he didn't have one offer from a big-time program. In 2011, Northwestern will lose Kevin Coble and Michael Thompson and will need freshmen to step in and contribute right away, and I'm highly skeptical as to whether a guy who was only drawing mid-major interest and hasn't been dominating high school basketball can step right into the fire in the Big Ten. Of course, I provided a similar analysis back in March about Johnathon Loyd, who at the time was only getting mid-major offers but eventually drew interest from heavyweights Michigan State and Florida before signing with Oregon, so it's conceivable that Sobolewski will prove to be a diamond in the rough and end up being a Craig Moore/Jason Bohannon type player. Unfortunately, I think it's more likely that he ends up being like another smart local Polish guard; you remember, this guy.