There are a lot of advantages to wrapping up all but a couple spots in a recruiting class by the start of the football season. It enables the coaching staff to be more selective in recruiting, get a head start on the next class, and focus their efforts more on retaining rather than adding to the commits they already have.
But it sure makes for some boring months in terms of recruiting news.
Take Northwestern’s Class of 2017, for instance, which already has 18 members. The Wildcats haven’t had a commitment since July 27, when wide receiver Kyric McGowan joined the group. They’ve only hosted one official visitor, cornerback Elijah Hicks. The rest of the visitors for home games have been made up of 2017 commits, and 2018 and 2019 prospects. There haven’t been any 2017 offers going out in that time, either.
At this point, Northwestern is focused on Hicks, a four-star talent from La Mirada (Calif.). He is No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 on their board right now, it seems.
WildcatReport has learned that coaches would like to take one or two more prospects in this class, and that’s it. That could change, of course, but right now that’s the operating assumption. Ideally, the Wildcats would bring in one cornerback and maybe an offensive tackle with those slots.
They are all-in with Hicks as the corner. WildcatReport’s numerous attempts to reach Hicks have been unsuccessful, but multiple sources indicate that the gifted 6-foot, 185-pounder had “a great time” on his official visit for the Nebraska game and “seemed to really love it at NU.” Still, it’s hard to project a California prospect with a 30-school offer list coming to Northwestern. One source puts NU’s chances at less than 50/50, based solely on the recruiting action that Hicks is getting. He is scheduled to take an official visit to Notre Dame next weekend (Oct. 15-17). The schools currently believed to be in contention for his final three official visits include UCLA, USC, Oregon, Cal and Washington, and possibly some Ivy League programs (though that would be a surprise, 4.0 GPA or not).
As for a tackle, it appears Northwestern is going to wait and see if anyone emerges with standout midseason highlights. Again, they can afford to be picky at this point.
Scott Nelson, a three-star prospect from University of Detroit Jesuit High, is another 2017 prospect with Northwestern among his favorites, but the Wildcats have definitely cooled on him. Why? For one, he is a safety or wide receiver and NU already has three of each of those in this class. (They initially offered him as a safety, but then recruited him as a wide receiver after they landed J.R. Pace as a third safety.) It also seems like Nelson just waited too long; if he wanted to be a Wildcat he would have done it long ago, shortly after his most recent visit. It looks like Nelson will wind up at either Iowa or Wisconsin.
The number of scholarships Northwestern will give out for this class is dependent on a couple factors: potential fifth-year seniors that come back for their final year of eligibility and walkons who are awarded scholarships. We can’t really speculate on the latter, but we can on the former.
Several players are locks to come back next season: Keith Watkins II (out for the season and who could be awarded a sixth year down the line), Kyle Queiro (currently sidelined), Godwin Igwebuike, Tyler Lancaster, Marcus McShepard, Brad North, Hunter Niswander and Anthony Walker Jr. (who is a lot less likely to leave early for the NFL). Northwestern will definitely invite Matt Alviti back to back up Clayton Thorson; we expect that he will take up the offer, but he could entertain grad transfer options. Two players who could have been on the bubble but who have earned another year with their play this season are Brett Walsh and Macan Wilson.
That leaves a couple candidates who could move on to free up a scholarship: Sam Coverdale, an offensive lineman who has been passed over at the tackle spot; and Josh Roberts, a former walkon who earned a scholarship last season but has never appeared on the two-deep. We’ll see how things shake out with those two.
Two other players who could impact numbers is Ian Park and Simba Short. If Park doesn’t play this season, he could be a candidate for a sixth year next season. But given that he’s a big guy with a foot injury, that may be a dicey proposition (see: McEvilly, Sean). Short, as reported by WR yesterday, is no longer in school at NU but is still a “counter” in terms of the scholarship limit. If the Wildcats get a medical DQ for him, he will no longer count against the 85-scholarship maximum.
But it sure makes for some boring months in terms of recruiting news.
Take Northwestern’s Class of 2017, for instance, which already has 18 members. The Wildcats haven’t had a commitment since July 27, when wide receiver Kyric McGowan joined the group. They’ve only hosted one official visitor, cornerback Elijah Hicks. The rest of the visitors for home games have been made up of 2017 commits, and 2018 and 2019 prospects. There haven’t been any 2017 offers going out in that time, either.
At this point, Northwestern is focused on Hicks, a four-star talent from La Mirada (Calif.). He is No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 on their board right now, it seems.
WildcatReport has learned that coaches would like to take one or two more prospects in this class, and that’s it. That could change, of course, but right now that’s the operating assumption. Ideally, the Wildcats would bring in one cornerback and maybe an offensive tackle with those slots.
They are all-in with Hicks as the corner. WildcatReport’s numerous attempts to reach Hicks have been unsuccessful, but multiple sources indicate that the gifted 6-foot, 185-pounder had “a great time” on his official visit for the Nebraska game and “seemed to really love it at NU.” Still, it’s hard to project a California prospect with a 30-school offer list coming to Northwestern. One source puts NU’s chances at less than 50/50, based solely on the recruiting action that Hicks is getting. He is scheduled to take an official visit to Notre Dame next weekend (Oct. 15-17). The schools currently believed to be in contention for his final three official visits include UCLA, USC, Oregon, Cal and Washington, and possibly some Ivy League programs (though that would be a surprise, 4.0 GPA or not).
As for a tackle, it appears Northwestern is going to wait and see if anyone emerges with standout midseason highlights. Again, they can afford to be picky at this point.
Scott Nelson, a three-star prospect from University of Detroit Jesuit High, is another 2017 prospect with Northwestern among his favorites, but the Wildcats have definitely cooled on him. Why? For one, he is a safety or wide receiver and NU already has three of each of those in this class. (They initially offered him as a safety, but then recruited him as a wide receiver after they landed J.R. Pace as a third safety.) It also seems like Nelson just waited too long; if he wanted to be a Wildcat he would have done it long ago, shortly after his most recent visit. It looks like Nelson will wind up at either Iowa or Wisconsin.
The number of scholarships Northwestern will give out for this class is dependent on a couple factors: potential fifth-year seniors that come back for their final year of eligibility and walkons who are awarded scholarships. We can’t really speculate on the latter, but we can on the former.
Several players are locks to come back next season: Keith Watkins II (out for the season and who could be awarded a sixth year down the line), Kyle Queiro (currently sidelined), Godwin Igwebuike, Tyler Lancaster, Marcus McShepard, Brad North, Hunter Niswander and Anthony Walker Jr. (who is a lot less likely to leave early for the NFL). Northwestern will definitely invite Matt Alviti back to back up Clayton Thorson; we expect that he will take up the offer, but he could entertain grad transfer options. Two players who could have been on the bubble but who have earned another year with their play this season are Brett Walsh and Macan Wilson.
That leaves a couple candidates who could move on to free up a scholarship: Sam Coverdale, an offensive lineman who has been passed over at the tackle spot; and Josh Roberts, a former walkon who earned a scholarship last season but has never appeared on the two-deep. We’ll see how things shake out with those two.
Two other players who could impact numbers is Ian Park and Simba Short. If Park doesn’t play this season, he could be a candidate for a sixth year next season. But given that he’s a big guy with a foot injury, that may be a dicey proposition (see: McEvilly, Sean). Short, as reported by WR yesterday, is no longer in school at NU but is still a “counter” in terms of the scholarship limit. If the Wildcats get a medical DQ for him, he will no longer count against the 85-scholarship maximum.
