by Louie Vaccher
National signing day is a day of angst for many programs. Coaches at schools around the nation will wait on pins and needles as top prospects around the country make their decisions.
Fourteen of the Rivals100 prospects are still uncommitted at this point. Then there are those commits that could flip and choose another school. It can all add up to a double-digit Tums kind of day for college coaches.
But not at Northwestern. Expect the Wildcats to sign their 19 commitments and wrap everything up early. Wide receiver Berkeley Holman of Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco is the only commit in the class in the Pacific time zone, so things could be wrapped up as early as 8 a.m. Central time.
And that’s just the way head coach Pat Fitzgerald likes it. He secured commitments from all but one of the new Wildcats before the 2016 season even started. The lone exception is linebacker Chee Anyanwu, whom they flipped from Richmond on Jan. 21.
Signing days are usually uneventful in Evanston. There have been exceptions, however.
In 2015, Northwestern had two decommits (Zach Allen and Grant Perry) and two commitments to replace them (Montre Hartage and Flynn Nagel) within the last few days. In 2014, Hamilton Anoa’I flipped from NU to Cal on the eve of signing day.
Other than isolated incidents like those, NU signing days have been snoozers. The staff is usually much more focused on the next class than the one signing.
Northwestern learned yesterday that four-star, Rivals250 linebacker Ellis Brooks was committing to Penn State. He was the last uncommitted high school prospect on the Wildcat radar.
WildcatReport learned that there was also a commitment at a Group of Five school that Northwestern was considering. But coaches decided at the 11th hour not to extend an offer in favor of holding onto it for 2018.
So that’s about it. Barring something out of left field – like a top prospect at a position of need falling into their laps – it doesn’t look like there will be any late additions to the class.
There are still a couple graduate transfers who could eventually end up in Evanston, though. Former Oregon wide receiver Jalen Brown has taken an official visit to Northwestern and ex-Georgia Tech offensive lineman Trey Klock is expected to visit at some point. Both players have two years of eligibility remaining and the Wildcats are very much in the mix for both of them.
But graduate transfers aren’t bound by national signing day and can sign at any time. They must first get admitted to graduate school, so it may be quite a while before we hear anything about either player.
National signing day is a day of angst for many programs. Coaches at schools around the nation will wait on pins and needles as top prospects around the country make their decisions.
Fourteen of the Rivals100 prospects are still uncommitted at this point. Then there are those commits that could flip and choose another school. It can all add up to a double-digit Tums kind of day for college coaches.
But not at Northwestern. Expect the Wildcats to sign their 19 commitments and wrap everything up early. Wide receiver Berkeley Holman of Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco is the only commit in the class in the Pacific time zone, so things could be wrapped up as early as 8 a.m. Central time.
And that’s just the way head coach Pat Fitzgerald likes it. He secured commitments from all but one of the new Wildcats before the 2016 season even started. The lone exception is linebacker Chee Anyanwu, whom they flipped from Richmond on Jan. 21.
Signing days are usually uneventful in Evanston. There have been exceptions, however.
In 2015, Northwestern had two decommits (Zach Allen and Grant Perry) and two commitments to replace them (Montre Hartage and Flynn Nagel) within the last few days. In 2014, Hamilton Anoa’I flipped from NU to Cal on the eve of signing day.
Other than isolated incidents like those, NU signing days have been snoozers. The staff is usually much more focused on the next class than the one signing.
Northwestern learned yesterday that four-star, Rivals250 linebacker Ellis Brooks was committing to Penn State. He was the last uncommitted high school prospect on the Wildcat radar.
WildcatReport learned that there was also a commitment at a Group of Five school that Northwestern was considering. But coaches decided at the 11th hour not to extend an offer in favor of holding onto it for 2018.
So that’s about it. Barring something out of left field – like a top prospect at a position of need falling into their laps – it doesn’t look like there will be any late additions to the class.
There are still a couple graduate transfers who could eventually end up in Evanston, though. Former Oregon wide receiver Jalen Brown has taken an official visit to Northwestern and ex-Georgia Tech offensive lineman Trey Klock is expected to visit at some point. Both players have two years of eligibility remaining and the Wildcats are very much in the mix for both of them.
But graduate transfers aren’t bound by national signing day and can sign at any time. They must first get admitted to graduate school, so it may be quite a while before we hear anything about either player.
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