Northwestern Football Recruiting: Signing Day Looms, Stephen Buckley Commits, Anything Doing?
by Rodger Sherman on Jan 31, 2012 11:04 AM CST
in Northwestern Wildcats Football Recruiting
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PrintSo, tomorrow is signing day, which generally allows the NCAA football community to get their panties all bunched up. I'll write a bunch about Northwestern's class of 2012 and what they mean for the program and all, but for you, the question is: what does signing day actually mean for Northwestern? Typically, this is an intriguing day because big-name recruits announce their decision about what school they'll attend, in Northwestern's scenario, this is rarely an issue.
This year, that seems to be the case. After picking up Kyle Prater (!!!!!) and Stephen Buckley, Northwestern has a class of 21 locked up and from the buzz around recruiting services seems to imply that it will stay that way. Northwestern still has a few offers outstanding, but none to anybody seemingly likely to decide on Northwestern. High Northwestern target four-star linebacker Quanzell Lambert, who committed to Rutgers before the departure of head coach Greg Schiano, is apparently going to wait until after signing day to fill out his LOI while reconsidering options, but apparently has little chance of coming to NU.
About Buckley: he's a two-star athlete from Forney, Texas, who Northwestern is apparently looking at using as a running back. Buckley played QB in high school, but was being recruited as a defensive back by other schools - Kansas State, Washington State, and several service academies had offers out. Buckley is 6-foot-0 and runs a 4.48 40, if those are the things you worry about.
Anyway, if you're curious about signing day, it won't be too exciting. But we will have stories up over the next week or so about the class and what it has going on.
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Congrats to Pat Fitzgerald for bringing in a great class.
by NU Alumni - Class of 2002 on Jan 31, 2012 11:05 AM CST reply actions
Amen to this
Looks like a great class, with a lot of talent at a lot of different positions of need. I mean,depending on your ranking service, we have 4 4-star or better recruits (Malin Jones, Adam DiPietro, Greg Kuhar, Ifeadi Odenigbo….and that’s not counting Prater, or guys like Dean Lowry who are VERY high 3-stars), which is unprecedented. Hopefully this talent infusion continues and pays off with wins on (and off) the field.
Awesome article by Teddy G
Best quote said by Odenigbo “If we don’t win a Big Ten championship, my time there will be a failure. None of this 6-6 stuff. I want to see 11-1 or 12-0.”
by JerseyShore@NU on Jan 31, 2012 11:29 PM CST reply actions
I LOVE IT!
Yes, yes, yes, yes! This is what sports is about, winning championships. I love that the star recruit says that, no bones about it, that’s the goal and expectation.
I’m proud of Fitz for recruiting these types of guys, high expectations. Well done and lock it up here, I don’t care what the record is next year, 0-12, but the year after, I want to see this team contending big time for Big Ten titles, w/Colter as a senior, Odenigbo as a sophomore, Prater in, etc.
Love it.
by NU Alumni - Class of 2002 on Feb 1, 2012 8:12 AM CST up reply actions
Just some highlights.
Scout.com rates Northwestern fifth in the Big Ten and 44th nationally, partially a function of NU’s large, 21-man class. The Wildcats’ average commitment received 2.76 stars, which ranks eighth in the Big Ten.
Rivals.com also gives NU’s players a 2.76 average that ranks 10th in the conference.
Analyst Tom Lemming of CBS Sports Network calls it “a typical, solid Northwestern class. They’ll finish seventh or eighth in the Big Ten (in recruiting rankings), as they almost always do. There are a couple of big talents, but mainly blue-collar overachievers who know how to play the game.”
My bottom line is much improved in recruiting rankings, but more elite players which will be game changers. Love it.
by NU Alumni - Class of 2002 on Feb 1, 2012 8:20 AM CST up reply actions
ESPN ranks Northwestern #8 in B1G
….ahead of Minny, Purdue, Indiana, and Illinois (in that order, 9-12).
Where is Penn St?
I would have thought that they would be getting hurt in recruiting this year.
I would have thought so
I thought PSU would really be suffering, guess not.
by NU Alumni - Class of 2002 on Feb 1, 2012 9:34 AM CST up reply actions
PSU is almost always top 3 in the B10; top 10-15 in the country.
Being middle-of-the-pack in the B10 and around 40th in the country means they’ve been hurt. Face it, most recruits would still choose PSU with a scandal over an Indiana, Maryland, or Rice without a scandal.
One note....
…according to interviews, Odenigbo wants to redshirt so he can focus on academics and get bigger/faster. Personally, while I’d love to get him on the field….I’d also love to have him redshirt so we get him for 4 awesome years.
Really?
That’s crazy talk. What elite players redshirt nowadays? I mean I guess since next year is supposed to be bad, why not, but redshirt is kinda lame to me.
by NU Alumni - Class of 2002 on Feb 1, 2012 8:32 AM CST up reply actions
Well....
…lots of guys redshirt, so they get that year of learning the system, adding muscle, getting in shape, improving technique etc. Plus, it gives them a year to get used to the academics side of things.
Odenigbo’s family has stressed academics, so that’s clearly in play on why he might redshirt. Plus, he’s undersized as a DE (right now, he’s more like a OLB in size/speed), so he could gain some muscle/size/technique by sitting a year. 4 years at a more ideal size/experience in practice could be great for him/Northwestern.
There’s another factor, too. As an Ohio kid, he may want a chance to play the Buckeyes during his career….by redshirting a year, he may get to play the Buckeyes all 4 years of his career (we’re not playing them in 2012, though).
Ok.
Cool. I have no argument, and to be honest, if he feels that it would help him that much, go for it. Not about bowl games, but setting yourself up for championships.
by NU Alumni - Class of 2002 on Feb 1, 2012 9:33 AM CST up reply actions
One more thing....
Odenigbo is still only 17 (turns 18 in April). No need to rush a player, particularly when they’re still relatively young for the recruiting class.
True, but...
…USC has a dozen elite WR’s, so I would think it would happen there more than at NU.
Overall, I’m just excited that this kid is coming to NU, and if he wants to redshirt, I’m cool with it.
by NU Alumni - Class of 2002 on Feb 1, 2012 10:56 AM CST up reply actions
Reshirt
He only redshirted because he got hurt his true freshman year.
by Craig from the Southside on Feb 1, 2012 12:00 PM CST up reply actions
L8 just tweeted this.
Has Fitz given up on the “we don’t want kids who play the hat game” nonsense now that he actually recruited a couple real prospects?
I HOPE SO. This was one of my top frustrations with Fitz, his arrogant, self-righteous way of saying we do things our way around here, well coach, that’s gotten you from 9-3 to 6-6, so THANK YOU for changing your ways and bringing in elite players.
I’m still a Fitz hater, but man, my opinion is quickly changing. I LOVE that he, Dr. Phillips, and elite players are talking about championships and not academics/compliance.
Go Cats!
by NU Alumni - Class of 2002 on Feb 1, 2012 9:36 AM CST reply actions
the answer is no
Fitz tweeted after that about “no hat dances at Northwestern” or some such
i recall Odenigbo doing the hat dance when he committed to NU, so i thought it was over
its an extremely minor thing and likely completely irrelevant to NU winning or losing, but I dont get why he cares about this, let the top prospects go on ESPNU and have some fun in the spotlight.
I agree 100%.
Do I think hat dances are silly? Yes.
Do I blame coaches for hating them? No.
HOWEVER, that is the current landscape of Top 150 caliber players, so to ‘exclude’ them or say that our players are ‘above that’ is silly. In truth, prior to this year, your players were rated so low that no one cared about who they picked. That is changing, and I’m thankful for that.
Let the players have fun, and heck, it’s good exposure for NU’s purple to be seen instead of the usual top 10 recruiting classes.
by NU Alumni - Class of 2002 on Feb 1, 2012 10:54 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
I DO blame the coaches if they are hating on the hat game
Signing day is ridiculously excessive, I’ll get that out of the way up front. But afterwards these kids have ZERO leverage to ensure that the institution they choose does right by them. They are ONE catastrophic injury away from being out of a scholarship, or one petulant coach away from being permanently relegated to the dregs of the depth chart. And I don’t think for one second that many coaches who are a hot commodity would string out a commitment for more notoriety. Some could probably hold their institution hostage for whatever they please.
In short, I wouldn’t want a kid who is too wrapped up in himself, so I see where Fitz is coming from, but it ignores the incredible risks these athletes bare by playing ball for our entertainment.
/indignantrant
by wcgrad on Feb 1, 2012 11:34 AM CST via iPhone app up reply actions
that should read
I don’t think for one second that a coach who is a hot commodity would WAIT to string out his commitment for additional notoriety (or salary).
by wcgrad on Feb 1, 2012 11:37 AM CST via iPhone app up reply actions
CORRECTION
They are ONE catastrophic injury away from being out of a scholarship,
Not at all. Northwestern is one of the B1G schools offering 4-year scholarships (rather than 1-year renewable) that are NOT capable of being lost by injury. (This was a smart move by the B1G, by the way, to strike against despicable SEC oversigning/roster churning)
Plus, across the board in the NCAA, if a player gets a truly catastrophic injury and is incapable of playing again, most if not all NCAA schools use medical hardship exceptions to give the player an academic/financial aid package to finish their schooling while freeing up the “athletic” scholarship from their 85 scholarship limit.
In all honesty, Northwestern (and many of its B1G brethren) are the schools that are treating the student-athletes properly/fairly, versus the despicable practices in the SEC West (oversigning) or Stanford (over-offering and then revoking scholarship offers when other/better players come along based on bogus “academic admissions” problems)
Yes/no.
Let’s commend NU and other schools for doing a 4-year committment, but the SEC bashing looks silly Chad. Players KNOW how the SEC elite work and YET, they still go there, why? Simple, winning a SEC championship is a de facto national championship, and that ain’t changing anytime soon. The number of NFL players that the SEC produces is #1, first rounders #1, pro bowlers #1, all pro #1, etc, we could go on and on and on, no one is debating the SEC is the best conference, but to say that these coaches are shady, well yes, everyone knows how shady college sports are in general.
The point is that Pat F used to be anti-hat dance and now he’s not, let’s commend him for making adjustments to attract top tier talent and WIN games. That’s the purpose, not to create some mythical standard and brag about not doing hat dances.
by NU Alumni - Class of 2002 on Feb 1, 2012 12:23 PM CST up reply actions
comforting to hear
And I wasn’t picking on NU here, but universities really do control a player’s future. It’s good that many take the charge to educate the athletes seriously. And the 4 year renewable makes a lot more sense than the one year junk, esp. Since players lose a year of eligibility if they transfer.
by wcgrad on Feb 1, 2012 7:51 PM CST via iPhone app up reply actions
Dude, seriously
Did you really need to go there? Are we to the point that we need to actually discuss Fitz’s views on the hat game? Is that really all it takes to flip you from a hater to a Fitz supporter? I love free-flowing comments and all, but man, that is some serious trolling.
I didn't mean it that way.
I was saying that I LIKE IT that Pat F is not being as self-righteous. It is not that one incident that is flipping me, but it’s a positive rather than a negative to me.
by NU Alumni - Class of 2002 on Feb 1, 2012 10:55 AM CST up reply actions
What excites me today
looking at the NU commitments, are the four 3-star OL recruits (DePietro, Park, Playko, Mahoney) that we’ve gotten in this yeah. Average weight is already close to 280 between them, and a year to redshirt, bulk up, whatever, could really be a big factor in improving some of the offensive line struggles of the past couple years.
Stars are obviously not a guarantee of success, but that’s pretty great stuff!
Nice point.....
….but DePietro is technically a 4-star (at least on Scout), and Mahoney may be a defensive lineman (not certain about that, but some reports have him on that side of the ball)
I mean, for DePietro, even better.
For Mahoney, I was just going off a cursory glance at ESPN; I could’ve seen it wrong, and they could have it wrong.
Either way, I’m glad to see good recruits coming in for the line on both sides of the ball.
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