Signed, sealed, delivered: NU's Class of 2015 is complete!

[lou v]

There's been quite a bit of drama in Northwestern recruiting over the last five days, with two players decommitting and two more committing. But the Wildcats' Signing Day was a lot less eventful.



Head coach Pat Fitzgerald welcomed 20 new Wildcats into the program today. All 20 signed national letters of intent were received by mid-morning -- pretty impressive when considering that two were Californians on Pacific time.

Northwestern's class is currently ranked 50th in the country and 10th in the Big Ten by Rivals.

So sit back, relax, and track the new Cats.

WildcatReport on Twitter
Commitment List

On the Rock: Notes from Fitz's press conference at Ditka's ($)



LOI Tracker

Update: The first two new Cats are on the board: speedy Baltimore (Md.) Gilman WR/KR Steven Reese.

Update: The next two are G Joe Gaziano from Westwood (Mass.) Xaverian Brothers. Both bring state championships to Evanston.

Update: The next Wildcat in the fold is guard Andrew Otterman of Delbarton of Morristown (N.J.) Delbarton.

Update: Roberts' teammate at Gilman, CB Alonzo Mayo, is now officially a Wildcat.

Update: We have two more new Wildcats: DT Charlie Fessler of Erie (Pa.) Cathedral Prep.

Update: There are three more Wildcats in the huddle: WR Nathan Fox of Clear Lake (Texas).

Update: They are coming in fast and furious. Here are four new Wildcats: WR Trae Williams of Athens (Ohio) The Plains.

Update: The third offensive lineman has joined the group with OT Adam Lemke-Bell of Oak Park (Ill.) River Forest.

Update: Not surprisingly, Lemke-Bell's teammate at OPRF, QB Lloyd Yates, is the next to sign his LOI.

Update: They are all in! While I was driving down to Ditka's, the Cats received LOIs from S Simba Short of Concord (Calif.) DeLaSalle. That's 20 for 20 for those scoring at home.




Signing Day Q&A

Meet Jelani Roberts ($): It figures that Roberts would be the first one to sign his LOI; he's the fastest member of NU's Class of 2015.

Meet Joe Gaziano ($): Gaziano was the 2014 Gatorade Player of the Year and one of six state champions in the Class of 2015.

Meet Jared Thomas ($): The guard is the most decorated signee in NU's class, with three Indiana state titles.

Meet Jordan Thompson ($): The defensive tackle signee who chose Northwestern over offers from Alabama and Notre Dame, among others.




This post was edited on 2/4 1:23 PM by Lou V

This post was edited on 2/4 2:22 PM by Lou V

 

[corbi296]

Re: It's National Signing Day and the LOIs are rolling into Evanston!

Where is the LOI from Jacob Murray? He is in the CST and should be in by now. I sure hope he is not the unnamed player that Dkecat indicated was being recruited hard by another program.

 

[corbi296]

Re: It's National Signing Day and the LOIs are rolling into Evanston!

Never mind. He has a picture of himself signing the NU LOI on his twitter account.

 

[Deeringfish]

Re: It's National Signing Day and the LOIs are rolling into Evanston!

Nice self investigation, detective Corbi.

Except.... That could have been two days ago, it's not final until it's faxed in.
This post was edited on 2/4 9:39 AM by Deeringfish

 

[Ubermorgen]

Re: It's National Signing Day and the LOIs are rolling into Evanston!

Murray and Goens are in according to Fitz' s Facebook.

 

[PURPLECAT88]

Re: It's National Signing Day and the LOIs are rolling into Evanston!

NU official site says the last three are in.

 

[Deeringfish]

Re: It's National Signing Day and the LOIs are rolling into Evanston!

Originally posted by Ubermorgen:
Murray and Goens are in according to Fitz' s Facebook.

Yeah but it's not really official until Lou says so.

 

[lou v]

Re: It's National Signing Day and the LOIs are rolling into Evanston!

NU received the signed LOIs from Murray, Goens and Short while I was driving downtown. So I can now finally say with confidence that the Cats' class is complete.

 

[Cat In The Cradle]

Re: It's National Signing Day and the LOIs are rolling into Evanston!

Now on to 2016. Release the hounds!

 

[Hungry Jack]

Congrats to the newest Wildcats!

I like this class a lot. More speed, more athleticism, guys who were insanely productive in HS, guys who played 2 ways and excelled, guys who hit hard, all good students.

 

[Turk]

Great Class by Fitz

He did a heckuva job hanging on to most of our recruits, given the awful season. And landing Nagel after Perry bolted was almost a wash. I really think Perry is going to be a stud, but Nagel in the slot still has potential to compete immediately.

Well done Pat!

 

[rmndcat]

Re: It's National Signing Day and the LOIs are rolling into Evanston!

Call it a tweet of intent.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Re: Great Class by Fitz

Originally posted by Turk:
He did a heckuva job hanging on to most of our recruits, given the awful season. And landing Nagel after Perry bolted was almost a wash. I really think Perry is going to be a stud, but Nagel in the slot still has potential to compete immediately.

Well done Pat!

Are you going to insist on calling our season "awful" for the entire offseason? Disappointing, sure. Underachieving, most definitely. Awful... that's pushing it.


We are at the point where consecutive five-win seasons qualifies as a "disappointment." Expectations are definitely raised, but missing a bowl game does not automatically qualify a Northwestern season as "awful."

 

[Turk]

Re: Great Class by Fitz

most might not say awful, but I would think a better word may be somewhere between awful and disappointing. IMO, disappointing is putting things lightly. I would also say that Fitz was prolly sicker about this season than me. Not that I think we would be winning the BIG but I expected about 7 wins and a bowl trip. Disappointing would be no bowl and maybe 6 wins, given the slack schedule of not playing MSU or OSU. And only 5 wins would also have been disappointing if we played better. But it's not just that we only won 5 games, but how we lost the 7 games. Dropping passes, ridiculous preparation to open the season, having our QB continually get hammered once again, no development along the OL or backup QB's. Yea, if not for the pounding against Iowa, in state hammerings, stinker against Western Michigan, and the general softness that allows other teams like Michigan to just take potential games from us.

We are better than this. That's why it is awful. It would be disappointing if we didn't have so much potential.

That said, maybe I have too much purple but I think the future is bright with Thorson. If we can stabilize this QB position, then I think the OL could be manageable with less pressure on it. Given the recruits of last year and this year, plus the return of Christian Jones, I gotta think we will be seeing a lot less of the fill ins [shuler, pya, Dickerson] who struggled catching balls and running routes.

Guys like Vault, Anderson, Nagel, and that one kid we recruited last year who had meningitis or some health issue [hopefully he is better now], all have potential for playing time lining up outside the pocket.

 

[Figrating]

Re: Great Class by Fitz

5 - 7 isn't awful?

Your sense of smell is going.

 

[NJCat83588]

Re: Great Class by Fitz

The final record isn't the whole story. The crappola start the team had was awful. They played like they were asleep against Cal and NIU, and Fitz had to reopen training camp during the first bye week. It is one thing to play hard and lose (a la OSU in 2013), it is another to sleep walk through games. Cats were not ready to start the season, full stop. That is awful.

 

[Turk]

Re: Great Class by Fitz

that's what I'm saying. Although I believe 5-7 is more than disappointing, as is, considering the weak schedule and not having to play MSU or OSU, but those 7 losses were pitiful. Iowa and Illinois were both lame teams that just controlled us. And terrible teams like Michigan were tougher than us and took victory from our hands. And the Western Michigan game was a lot closer than the final score.

But there are always redeeming qualities one can find to bring hope for next year. I have no problem giving Fitz full credit for having the team regain itself after getting abused by Iowa, for wins against Purdue and Notre Dame. Although we were Illinois third place runner ups, we were the Indiana State Champs beating Purdue and Notre Dame. I don't think any player on the team was going to think defeat against Notre Dame since they wanted to win for Fitz. And that's the Power of Fitz, he is charismatic with his team. Fitz is his own worst enemy. His bonehead lack of decisions under the mask of loyalty is not a virtue. At some point, he must learn to prune the tree of unproductive coaching. The purple vine won't grow if it isn't pruned. If he hasn't learned in ten years, then I don't think he will, so our hope of moving forward has to be Thorson and his ability to improvise.
This post was edited on 2/4 2:04 PM by Turk

 

[AtlantaCat]

Re: Great Class by Fitz

Originally posted by Turk:
that's what I'm saying. Although I believe 5-7 is more than disappointing, as is, considering the weak schedule and not having to play MSU or OSU, but those 7 losses were pitiful. Iowa and Illinois were both lame teams that just controlled us. And terrible teams like Michigan were tougher than us and took victory from our hands. And the Western Michigan game was a lot closer than the final score.

Actually, the Western Michigan game was far, far away, in a land called Fantasyville.

 

[catlitter]

Re: Great Class by Fitz


Will someone please explain to me why this is such a great class. It's ranked #11 in the B10. Our recruiting rankings over the last few years have been about the same and, more or less, correspond to our final standing within the B10 over the same period. Me thinks there is a cause and effect relationship.

 

[Katatonic]

Re: Great Class by Fitz

Originally posted by catlitter:

Will someone please explain to me why this is such a great class. It's ranked #11 in the B10. Our recruiting rankings over the last few years have been about the same and, more or less, correspond to our final standing within the B10 over the same period. Me thinks there is a cause and effect relationship.

In terms of avg star ratings, pretty much on par w/ UMD and IU (the 3, including NU, take the 7-9 slots w/ roughly a 2.8 Rivals avg. rating).

Not great, but decent coming off 2 losing seasons.

Can't afford another non-bowl/losing season - otherwise, recruiting may really start to take a hit.