Dareian Watkins, a consensus four-star prospect in the class of 2014 from Galion High School (OH), committed to Northwestern on Monday. Watkins becomes the seventh member of the Wildcats' 2014 class and he is the highest-rated prospect of the seven. Northwestern's class is ranked among the nation's top 20 according to 247Sports.
Watkins could end up playing one of several positions at the college level. At 6'2 and 192 pounds, he possesses good speed, and he has experience playing quarterback and running the football. In addition to being a good athlete, he's also a good story:
If you don't know Watkins' story, it's amazing. Adopted and now going to a prestigious school in NW on football scholarship. Awesome stuff.
— Mike Wilson (@SpartansOrDie) May 6, 2013
Northwestern's success in this and other cases has some Illinois fans concerned about the ground the Illini may be losing to the Wildcats.
It's not the 4-star player choosing NU over Illinois that worries me. It's the 4-star player choosing NU over all those other schools.
— TheChampaignRoom.com (@Champaign_Room) May 6, 2013
Watkins has scholarship offers from numerous power-conference schools, including Penn State, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Louisville, Michigan State, Georgia Tech and the aforementioned Illini.
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