Northwestern will host a total of about 19 commits and prospects at its annual recruiting barbecue on Saturday.
July is typically the slowest summer month for the Wildcats. In June they hold a series of one-day camps and a flurry of offers typically follow. In August fall camp begins. For July, there is usually just one big event: a barbecue on the beach.
This year, the overwhelming majority of attendees are Class of 2017 commitments. As the pace of recruiting has accelerated in college football, the annual barbecue has become an opportunity for commits to begin to build the bonds that will last for four or five years in Evanston.
This year is no exception. Other than one 2017 prospect, a handful of 2018s and a single 2019, the majority of recruits on hand for Saturday’s noon event will be commitments.
WildcatReport reached out to several 2017 commmits, and the only one who said he will not be there is defensive end Trevor Kent, who will be on a cruise with his family. Earnest Brown, Blake Gallagher, Sam Gerak, Bryce Jackson and Charlie Kuhbander have all confirmed their attendance, and all said that most of their classmates will be there, as well.
As far as 2017 prospects go, wide receiver Kyric McGowan, who recently put Northwestern back onto his favorites list, will be attending. Remaining high-profile targets Scottie Nelson and Russ Yeast will not be there.
The two 2018s who will be on hand are both players with offers from the Chicago area: Crystal Lake Central guard Wyatt Blake and, of course, four-star Gurnee Warren wide receiver Micah Jones, who will be making at least his sixth visit on campus.
Northwestern’s lone 2019 offer, tackle Trevor Keegan of Crystal Lake South, will also be on hand.
The barbecue is scheduled for noon on Saturday, but several 2017 commitments are planning to spend a couple days on campus. For many of them, it will be their first opportunity to meet more than one or two of their classmates.
Kuhbander, for example, has yet to meet a single one of classmates in person. Gallagher will arrive on Friday and leave on Monday; so far, he has met only two of his classmates: Trey Pugh and Ethan Wiederkehr.
Head coach Pat Fitzgerald likes his commitments to build bonds with each other as early and often as possible. He has talked several times over the years about how much more difficult it was when he was a player, when he showed up in August in Evanston not knowing a single one of his classmates. In his eyes, events likes the barbecue will build the camaraderie that will serve them well as teammates, and it also makes it that much less likely they will entertain thoughts of decommitting before signing day next February.
It doesn’t hurt that the event will take place on the beach, on the shores of Lake Michigan, near Northwestern’s rising new palace of a football facility, either. Those are three selling points – along with academics, obviously – that Fitzgerald hits as hard as any in his recruiting sales pitch.
July is typically the slowest summer month for the Wildcats. In June they hold a series of one-day camps and a flurry of offers typically follow. In August fall camp begins. For July, there is usually just one big event: a barbecue on the beach.
This year, the overwhelming majority of attendees are Class of 2017 commitments. As the pace of recruiting has accelerated in college football, the annual barbecue has become an opportunity for commits to begin to build the bonds that will last for four or five years in Evanston.
This year is no exception. Other than one 2017 prospect, a handful of 2018s and a single 2019, the majority of recruits on hand for Saturday’s noon event will be commitments.
WildcatReport reached out to several 2017 commmits, and the only one who said he will not be there is defensive end Trevor Kent, who will be on a cruise with his family. Earnest Brown, Blake Gallagher, Sam Gerak, Bryce Jackson and Charlie Kuhbander have all confirmed their attendance, and all said that most of their classmates will be there, as well.
As far as 2017 prospects go, wide receiver Kyric McGowan, who recently put Northwestern back onto his favorites list, will be attending. Remaining high-profile targets Scottie Nelson and Russ Yeast will not be there.
The two 2018s who will be on hand are both players with offers from the Chicago area: Crystal Lake Central guard Wyatt Blake and, of course, four-star Gurnee Warren wide receiver Micah Jones, who will be making at least his sixth visit on campus.
Northwestern’s lone 2019 offer, tackle Trevor Keegan of Crystal Lake South, will also be on hand.
The barbecue is scheduled for noon on Saturday, but several 2017 commitments are planning to spend a couple days on campus. For many of them, it will be their first opportunity to meet more than one or two of their classmates.
Kuhbander, for example, has yet to meet a single one of classmates in person. Gallagher will arrive on Friday and leave on Monday; so far, he has met only two of his classmates: Trey Pugh and Ethan Wiederkehr.
Head coach Pat Fitzgerald likes his commitments to build bonds with each other as early and often as possible. He has talked several times over the years about how much more difficult it was when he was a player, when he showed up in August in Evanston not knowing a single one of his classmates. In his eyes, events likes the barbecue will build the camaraderie that will serve them well as teammates, and it also makes it that much less likely they will entertain thoughts of decommitting before signing day next February.
It doesn’t hurt that the event will take place on the beach, on the shores of Lake Michigan, near Northwestern’s rising new palace of a football facility, either. Those are three selling points – along with academics, obviously – that Fitzgerald hits as hard as any in his recruiting sales pitch.
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