I've been reaching out to commits and NU contacts by phone and text to prepare for the first day of the early signing day tomorrow and thought I would share a few news and notes before the signed LOIs come rolling in.
- There will not be a signing day press conference or Gridiron Club reception tomorrow. However, I will get a chance to interview Fitz one-on-one over the phone tomorrow morning. So I'm excited about that.
- There's rarely any signing day drama at NU and tomorrow should be no different. They expect all 16 2018 commits to sign tomorrow (unless Ryan Winkel joins them and makes it 17; I will talk to Winkel tonight). There still is uncertainty if the committed PWOs will be announced tomorrow -- they don't technically sign an LOI, but NU still needs clearance to announce them. At this point, I was told that Willy Boatman is more likely to be announced than Ray Niro, but we'll see.
- Apparently, Notre Dame was very interested in a couple of NU's commits after they pledged. We knew about Devin O'Rourke, but Greg Newsome told me that ND came after him pretty hard this fall. He said that Illinois and Florida were the two other schools that kept recruiting him. He had an offer from Illinois, but ND and Florida wanted him to come up for an official visit, when they would have likely offered him. Both schools recruited him this year, when he was at IMG and no doubt got more exposure. Newsome, of course, said he was 100-percent committed and will sign with NU tomorrow.
- NU will have five early enrollees this year -- Isaiah Bowser, Khalid Jones, Andrew Leota, Jeremiah McDonald and Greg Newsome. Surprisingly, Bowser and Newsome told me that they made their decisions to do so recently. Bowser decided to enroll early "a couple months ago," after running backs coach Matt MacPherson told him that he'd be "one of the Top 3 or 4" running backs next season. His goal is to be one of the Top 2 next year. Newsome said he didn't make up his mind until a month ago. He says that his experience at IMG, where he followed a college-like routine and gained weight (he's up to 177), made him more prepared for college ball. Both of them already had enough credits to graduate early; Bowser said he could have graduated last June if he had wanted to. And Fitz has apparently let go of his personal philosophy that players should stay in school and enjoy their senior years. He didn't try to talk anyone out of it.
- Newsome told me that there were two big differences between playing at Carol Stream (Ill.) Glenbard North and at IMG. The first is the speed of the players - certainly no surprise. But the other thing is that he got a lot more balls thrown his way at IMG. At GN, after he made all-conference and led the state of Illinois in interceptions as a sophomore, no one threw at him anymore. At IMG, he was playing against elite programs that weren't afraid to throw at him, especially with talented players everywhere on the defense for the Ascenders. As a result, he feels like his play improved quite a bit.
- All of NU's commits told me that they always planned to sign early. Most said they would have signed even earlier if they could have. They also all agree that the early signing period is good for players - no matter what Urban Meyer and Nick Saban say.
- There will not be a signing day press conference or Gridiron Club reception tomorrow. However, I will get a chance to interview Fitz one-on-one over the phone tomorrow morning. So I'm excited about that.
- There's rarely any signing day drama at NU and tomorrow should be no different. They expect all 16 2018 commits to sign tomorrow (unless Ryan Winkel joins them and makes it 17; I will talk to Winkel tonight). There still is uncertainty if the committed PWOs will be announced tomorrow -- they don't technically sign an LOI, but NU still needs clearance to announce them. At this point, I was told that Willy Boatman is more likely to be announced than Ray Niro, but we'll see.
- Apparently, Notre Dame was very interested in a couple of NU's commits after they pledged. We knew about Devin O'Rourke, but Greg Newsome told me that ND came after him pretty hard this fall. He said that Illinois and Florida were the two other schools that kept recruiting him. He had an offer from Illinois, but ND and Florida wanted him to come up for an official visit, when they would have likely offered him. Both schools recruited him this year, when he was at IMG and no doubt got more exposure. Newsome, of course, said he was 100-percent committed and will sign with NU tomorrow.
- NU will have five early enrollees this year -- Isaiah Bowser, Khalid Jones, Andrew Leota, Jeremiah McDonald and Greg Newsome. Surprisingly, Bowser and Newsome told me that they made their decisions to do so recently. Bowser decided to enroll early "a couple months ago," after running backs coach Matt MacPherson told him that he'd be "one of the Top 3 or 4" running backs next season. His goal is to be one of the Top 2 next year. Newsome said he didn't make up his mind until a month ago. He says that his experience at IMG, where he followed a college-like routine and gained weight (he's up to 177), made him more prepared for college ball. Both of them already had enough credits to graduate early; Bowser said he could have graduated last June if he had wanted to. And Fitz has apparently let go of his personal philosophy that players should stay in school and enjoy their senior years. He didn't try to talk anyone out of it.
- Newsome told me that there were two big differences between playing at Carol Stream (Ill.) Glenbard North and at IMG. The first is the speed of the players - certainly no surprise. But the other thing is that he got a lot more balls thrown his way at IMG. At GN, after he made all-conference and led the state of Illinois in interceptions as a sophomore, no one threw at him anymore. At IMG, he was playing against elite programs that weren't afraid to throw at him, especially with talented players everywhere on the defense for the Ascenders. As a result, he feels like his play improved quite a bit.
- All of NU's commits told me that they always planned to sign early. Most said they would have signed even earlier if they could have. They also all agree that the early signing period is good for players - no matter what Urban Meyer and Nick Saban say.
