This could be a significant recruiting for Northwestern as it begins to wrap up its 2019 class just two weeks before national signing day on Feb. 6.
Running back Evan Hull is taking his official visit, and the Maple Grove (Minn.) standout all but told WildcatReport earlier this week that he would commit on or shortly after his visit. Hull would address the Wildcats’ most obvious remaining need for a running back.
So that’s the big news. But will there be any other 2019 prospects on campus along with Hull this weekend? According to a source, there are not any other planned visitors at this time.
The follow-up question: are you still recruiting for 2019, or will Hull be the last addition? The answer: “I can’t tell you that. Fitz’s orders.”
So there you have it. There may be other potential targets in play, but at this point we don't know for sure who they are, and things have been awfully quiet in Evanston.
NU coaches reportedly reached out to Rice grad transfer defensive tackle Zach Abercrumbia. However, we don't know about his interest level in Northwestern.
One thing that WildcatReport has learned is that Northwestern is evaluating a pair of potential grad transfer targets from Harvard: running back Charlie Booker III and wide receiver Justice Shelton-Mosely. Whether or not NU is a contender for either one is unknown, but the Wildcats are interested enough to kick the tires on both of them.
You’d think that a couple players from Harvard would be interested in Northwestern for its academics. Plus, both were recruited by the Wildcat coaching staff coming out of high school.
Here are thumbnail sketches of the three potential grad transfer targets.
Charlie Booker III
Booker is a 5-foot-9, 200-pounder who had just 41 rushes for 213 yards and two touchdowns in six games during the 2018 season. While those numbers won’t get anyone’s blood pressure up, he was a first-team All-Ivy League player in 2017, when he led the conference with 733 rushing yards and had a team-high six TDs.
For his three-year career, Booker III carried the ball 243 times for 1,230 yards (5.1 ypc) and 10 TDs. He did not play during the 2015 season, his freshman year, so he has one year of eligibility remaining.
Booker came out of Houston (Texas) Cypress Ranch in 2015. While Northwestern did not recruit him, NU running backs coach Louis Ayeni did recruit Booker for Iowa State. The Cyclones never offered, but the two have a relationship.
Northwestern could use help in its backfield after losing Chad Hanaoka and Solomon Vault to graduation and, more devastatingly, sophomore star Jeremy Larkin to medical retirement. Right now, there are just four running backs on NU’s roster: sophomore Isaiah Bowser, senior John Moten IV, junior Jesse Brown and redshirt freshman Drake Anderson. That’s it.
Hull would presumably be the fifth scholarship back, but Booker could provide some depth to the position. Northwestern started five different running backs in 2018 and six got double-digit carries, so they could use another back.
A stocky, bowling-ball of a runner, Booker has made his transfer intentions known, even posting a YouTube highlights video.
Justice Shelton-Mosley
Northwestern fans may remember Shelton-Mosley’s name. The Wildcats recruited the three-star wide receiver out of Sacramento (Calif.) Capital Christian, but he raised a lot of eyebrows when he picked Harvard over NU, Cal, Boston College and Duke.
Shelton-Mosley suffered a season-ending “lower leg injury” in a Week 4 loss to Cornell last season. He could apply for a medical redshirt under the NCAA’s new four-game redshirt rule. However, the Ivy League has more stringent rules than the NCAA and limits redshirts to three games.
So, Shelton-Mosley’s Harvard career is apparently over. If he wants to play another year of college football, it will have to be at another school.
Shelton-Mosley’s surprising decision to go to Harvard out of high school seemed to work out quite well: he is generally regarded as one of the greatest players to ever wear Crimson. The 5-foot-10, 190-pounder was a three-time first-team All-Ivy selection and a 2017 first-team FCS All-America.
As a receiver, he stands third in Harvard history in career receptions (148) and fifth in career receiving yards (1,921). He stands first and second in the school’s record book in single-season punt return average (19.0 yards in 2015 and 18.8 in 2017) and has the best career average at 14.4. He had 91-, 86- and 85-punt returns for touchdowns. He also holds the Harvard single-season kickoff return record of 33.1 yards.
Shelton-Mosley has yet to make public his intentions, but if he decides to enter the transfer portal he will likely be a hot commodity.
The Wildcats could use him at wide receiver, where they lost Flynn Nagel, Jalen Brown and Jelani Roberts since the end of the season, or as a return man.
Zach Abercrumbia
The 6-foot-2, 286-pound defensive tackle and co-captain had a standout season for Rice in 2018, recording 55 tackles, 4.5 of them for a loss. He has reportedly set up official visits to Mississippi State this weekend and Iowa the next, and will also take an unofficial to SMU. He is also being recruited by Michigan.
Sources haven't said anything about Abercrumbia, and NU may be on the outside in his recruiting judging by his visit schedule. However, Northwestern could be in the market for a defensive tackle to bolster depth after losing Jordan Thompson, Fred Wyatt and Ben Oxley to graduation.
A three-star talent out of Dallas (Texas) Skyline in 2015, Abercrumbia chose Rice over an offer list that included Stanford, Wisconsin, Texas Tech, TCU, Louisville and Vanderbilt.
Running back Evan Hull is taking his official visit, and the Maple Grove (Minn.) standout all but told WildcatReport earlier this week that he would commit on or shortly after his visit. Hull would address the Wildcats’ most obvious remaining need for a running back.
So that’s the big news. But will there be any other 2019 prospects on campus along with Hull this weekend? According to a source, there are not any other planned visitors at this time.
The follow-up question: are you still recruiting for 2019, or will Hull be the last addition? The answer: “I can’t tell you that. Fitz’s orders.”
So there you have it. There may be other potential targets in play, but at this point we don't know for sure who they are, and things have been awfully quiet in Evanston.
NU coaches reportedly reached out to Rice grad transfer defensive tackle Zach Abercrumbia. However, we don't know about his interest level in Northwestern.
One thing that WildcatReport has learned is that Northwestern is evaluating a pair of potential grad transfer targets from Harvard: running back Charlie Booker III and wide receiver Justice Shelton-Mosely. Whether or not NU is a contender for either one is unknown, but the Wildcats are interested enough to kick the tires on both of them.
You’d think that a couple players from Harvard would be interested in Northwestern for its academics. Plus, both were recruited by the Wildcat coaching staff coming out of high school.
Here are thumbnail sketches of the three potential grad transfer targets.
Charlie Booker III
Booker is a 5-foot-9, 200-pounder who had just 41 rushes for 213 yards and two touchdowns in six games during the 2018 season. While those numbers won’t get anyone’s blood pressure up, he was a first-team All-Ivy League player in 2017, when he led the conference with 733 rushing yards and had a team-high six TDs.
For his three-year career, Booker III carried the ball 243 times for 1,230 yards (5.1 ypc) and 10 TDs. He did not play during the 2015 season, his freshman year, so he has one year of eligibility remaining.
Booker came out of Houston (Texas) Cypress Ranch in 2015. While Northwestern did not recruit him, NU running backs coach Louis Ayeni did recruit Booker for Iowa State. The Cyclones never offered, but the two have a relationship.
Northwestern could use help in its backfield after losing Chad Hanaoka and Solomon Vault to graduation and, more devastatingly, sophomore star Jeremy Larkin to medical retirement. Right now, there are just four running backs on NU’s roster: sophomore Isaiah Bowser, senior John Moten IV, junior Jesse Brown and redshirt freshman Drake Anderson. That’s it.
Hull would presumably be the fifth scholarship back, but Booker could provide some depth to the position. Northwestern started five different running backs in 2018 and six got double-digit carries, so they could use another back.
A stocky, bowling-ball of a runner, Booker has made his transfer intentions known, even posting a YouTube highlights video.
Justice Shelton-Mosley
Northwestern fans may remember Shelton-Mosley’s name. The Wildcats recruited the three-star wide receiver out of Sacramento (Calif.) Capital Christian, but he raised a lot of eyebrows when he picked Harvard over NU, Cal, Boston College and Duke.
Shelton-Mosley suffered a season-ending “lower leg injury” in a Week 4 loss to Cornell last season. He could apply for a medical redshirt under the NCAA’s new four-game redshirt rule. However, the Ivy League has more stringent rules than the NCAA and limits redshirts to three games.
So, Shelton-Mosley’s Harvard career is apparently over. If he wants to play another year of college football, it will have to be at another school.
Shelton-Mosley’s surprising decision to go to Harvard out of high school seemed to work out quite well: he is generally regarded as one of the greatest players to ever wear Crimson. The 5-foot-10, 190-pounder was a three-time first-team All-Ivy selection and a 2017 first-team FCS All-America.
As a receiver, he stands third in Harvard history in career receptions (148) and fifth in career receiving yards (1,921). He stands first and second in the school’s record book in single-season punt return average (19.0 yards in 2015 and 18.8 in 2017) and has the best career average at 14.4. He had 91-, 86- and 85-punt returns for touchdowns. He also holds the Harvard single-season kickoff return record of 33.1 yards.
Shelton-Mosley has yet to make public his intentions, but if he decides to enter the transfer portal he will likely be a hot commodity.
The Wildcats could use him at wide receiver, where they lost Flynn Nagel, Jalen Brown and Jelani Roberts since the end of the season, or as a return man.
Zach Abercrumbia
The 6-foot-2, 286-pound defensive tackle and co-captain had a standout season for Rice in 2018, recording 55 tackles, 4.5 of them for a loss. He has reportedly set up official visits to Mississippi State this weekend and Iowa the next, and will also take an unofficial to SMU. He is also being recruited by Michigan.
Sources haven't said anything about Abercrumbia, and NU may be on the outside in his recruiting judging by his visit schedule. However, Northwestern could be in the market for a defensive tackle to bolster depth after losing Jordan Thompson, Fred Wyatt and Ben Oxley to graduation.
A three-star talent out of Dallas (Texas) Skyline in 2015, Abercrumbia chose Rice over an offer list that included Stanford, Wisconsin, Texas Tech, TCU, Louisville and Vanderbilt.
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