SBNation.com User Blog: Lightning McQueen

Help Me Choose a Dorm!

Lightning McQueen — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 20:38:37 -0000

Hello! I'm an incoming freshman (class of 2017), and I know very little about the dorms and such at Northwestern. So I was just wondering, where would y'all recommend I live next year? What are the dorms I should request, and what are the dorms I should avoid? I'm leaning towards North Campus housing, and I'd like a dorm close to basketball courts, so I could play pick up on a whim. Any assistance would be much appreciated!

The Case for and against Carmody

Lightning McQueen — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 22:59:48 -0000

Throughout this blog and many other Northwestern related sites, the "Fire Carmody" v. "Keep Carmody" debate has been in full swing. The following is a consolidation of reasons that I've seen both in favor of Carmody and against. If there are any that I've missed, please post them in the comments.

The Case against Carmody

1. 13 seasons without an NCAA tournament berth - This is ~~probably~~ definitely the number 1 reason people have been calling for Carmody's head. How can a major conference coach last 13 years without an NCAA tournament bid? The fact that he hasn't gotten there in his first 13 means it's quite unlikely that Northwestern under Carmody will achieve much success...ever.

2. Not a good enough recruiter and developer of B1G level talent - The hoard of 2-3 star recruits is not going to cut it in the B1G. Additionally, Carmody's lack of developing talent, particularly that of big men, is also bothersome. Sure, in the Ivy league it's easy to win with strong 3-point shooting and good perimeter play. But it's a heck of a lot tougher to compete with that style in the B1G. Without being able to develop a strong post player, it's tough to see Northwestern reach the tournament or become a top-half B1G team.

3. Next year's team, and teams on the horizon, are not good enough for the tournament - Next year, Northwestern loses Hearn but gains Crawford/ loses Swopshire but gains Cobb/ loses Marcotullio but gains Sina/Taphorn. This year's team, pre-Swop injury, was destined for the NIT. Shouldn't next year's team, which looks to be quite similar, do just the same? And once Crawford leaves, there is no chance this team gets to the tournament. There is no go to player in the water or on the horizon that will bring Northwestern over the top.

4. Nikola Cerina - Carmody hates him and doesn't play him. But he's obviously going to be our savior and is a star in the making. A new coach will see that and play him all the timez.

5. The team has plateaued under Carmody - Prior to this season, it was 4 straight NIT seasons. That seems about all we'll ever get out of a Carmody team. We need a new coach - one that can take NU basketball to the next level and into the tournament.

6. A potentially exciting, young new hire could become "Basketball's Fitz" - Carmody is kind of bland. A new, young, fiery coach could bring some excitement into the program, and push Northwestern's program in an exciting new direction.

The Case for Carmody

1. Carmody has drastically improved Northwestern's basketball program - From 1984-2000, Northwestern had 2 winning seasons (both 15-14 campaigns), and only three seasons where they eclipsed 10 wins. This season would have ranked third best in that 17 season span. Just let that sink in. Prior to this season, Northwestern reached 4 straight NITs and had two 20-win seasons. Compared to the history of Northwestern basketball, Carmody has made monumental improvements, and we should continue to find similar success in the future under Carmody.

2. Possible attrition - Rumors are floating around that Drew Crawford might transfer if Carmody gets fired. Since any possible tourney chance next season hinges on Crawford, if the rumor has weight, isn't that reason enough to keep Carmody for one more season? Additionally, the axing of Carmody could lead to the departure of Sina, who committed in large part to Carmody's style of play. But hey, at least Cerina will probably stick it out.

3. Next year's team is good enough for the tournament - Demps, Turner, Olah, and Kale improved immensly by season's end. Add in Cobb, Crawford, Sobo, Lumpkin, Sina, and Taphorn, and this team looks not only deep, but quite dangerous. Couple that with the fact that Michigan will lose Burke, Indiana will lose Watford, and possibly Zeller/Oladipo, OSU will lose Thomas, MSU will lose Nix and Payne, Illinois will lose Paul (these are all either seniors or potential NBAers), and suddenly the B1G looks a helluva lot easier. A weaker B1G + a stronger Northwestern = 1st ever tournament bid?

4. Unfair to fire Carmody after this season - Really? Fire Carmody following a season in which 3 starters were out for the year and 7 freshmen were on the roster? Especially from a team that pre-injury/suspension could have been in tourney talks? That's just unfair to Carmody, especially after the relative success of the last 4 seasons.

5. Improved recruiting - Sina is arguably the biggest recruit in Northwestern history - a top 100 player according to ESPN with offers from basketball powers Villanova and Pitt. Kale, from Iowa, picked Northwestern over Iowa, Iowa St., and Stanford. Recruiting is trending from 2/3 stars to 3/4 stars. Now that Carmody is landing the young talent, let's see how he coaches it.

6. Carmody is a quality person - Yeah, the "well at least he isn't Kevin O'Neill (or Tom Crean, or Lane Kiffin, etc)" point. But in all honesty, Carmody is a good guy. He stresses academics and integrity, and possesses all the honorable characteristics you'd like to see in a Northwestern head coach. He didn't have to suspend Cobb for the season, and he surely didn't do it to improve the team's on the court play. He did it to teach the kid a valuable lesson about the importance of academics; a lesson most other coaches would have found too costly to attempt to teach.

7. No potential replacements excite - Ok, fire Carmody. Then...hire a life long assistant? Or a coach that once won an NCAA Tournament game at a small school? Yikes. Teddy Greenstein's list offered a bunch of names...and none really jumped off the page. Have any of them shown anything that would make them appear to be the guy that'll push our program to the next level?

My thoughts

Keeping Carmody is the safe option. Next year, behind Crawford, Cobb, Sobo, etc, we'll be either an NCAA or NIT team. Our program will be in a solid place and we'll probably hover between the 5-9 spot in the B1G in the years to come.

A lot of people that call for Carmody's head assume that any coach will be a better coach and do a better job than Carmody. That's just not true. I can just as easily see a situation in which we bring in a new coach that causes our program to regress into...pre-Carmody times. Sure, maybe a new coach will be awesome? However, if Carmody had achieved an NU-like turnaround at a comparatively bad program (like DePaul), I'd throw his resume towards the top of the so called "exciting" candidates list that Greenstein laid out, even without the NCAA berth. If there was an exciting, low-risk coach on the horizon, I understand firing Carmody. But I just don't see it. It's too big of a risk to fire Carmody without an inkling of guarantee towards future success.

While this is probably a terrible opinion, I believe we should give Carmody one more year. Quite frankly, I don't think it's fair to judge his coaching ability on a year in which he lost 3 starters and had a roster with 7 freshmen. If next year's team with Cobb and Crawford can't get it done, then I think he should be gone. However, I genuinely believe that next year's team can make the tournament, and I think Carmody can/should be the coach to take them there.

Welp, that's that. Feel free to attack me or support me or add new pro/con Carmody bullets.

The Case against Carmody

4. Nikola Cerina - Carmody hates him and doesn't play him. But he's obviously going to be our savior and is a star in the making. A new coach will see that and play him all the timez.

The Case for Carmody

My thoughts

Welp, that's that. Feel free to attack me or support me or add new pro/con Carmody bullets.

Northwestern's basketball history compares to...

Lightning McQueen — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 06:52:20 -0000

Heads up: This was not meant to be a super depressing, trolling, Northwestern sucks type-of-post. This is probably really dumb and unnecessary information, but I found it sort of interesting...and quite depressing and pathetic at the same time. Whatever. Here it goes.

It's been well documented that Northwestern is the only team from a major conference to have never received a bid to the NCAA tournament. I decided to search for those big time schools with only 1 or 2 NCAA bids to give Northwestern fans a decent school to compare our basketball woes to.

Yeah...none of those exist. Northwestern's basketball history is far behind even all those other historically-bad-at-basketball schools. South Florida, a more recent acquisition to the Big East (since 2005), has reached the tournament 3 times. Every other major conference team has reached the NCAA tournament at least 6(!) times. Those with 6 NCAA appearance include Nebraska (last appearance: 1998), Mississippi (last appearance: 2002 - but a bubble team this year), Minnesota (last appearance: 2010 - but probably will make it this year), Rutger (last appearance: 1991), and Washington State (last appearance: 2008).

To further put this in perspective, Northeastern has reached the tournament 7 times, and even Northwestern State has cracked the field twice.

I don't want this to turn into a fire/keep Carmody thread. All I know is that I'm hungry for an NCAA Tournament berth - and soon. Because as it stands now, our basketball history is ridiculously pathetic. Northwestern football just won a bowl game for the first time in 64 years. Let's hope we can get a second monkey off our back with an NCAA Tournament appearance ASAP.

To further put this in perspective, Northeastern has reached the tournament 7 times, and even Northwestern State has cracked the field twice.

A History of Northwestern’s Top Recruits

Lightning McQueen — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 05:08:29 -0000

It’s well documented that Northwestern consistently develops talent out of generally middling recruits. Examples abound. Venric Mark – a 2-star wide receiver out of high school according to Scout turned 1,000-yard rusher at Northwestern. Corey Wooten – a 2-star defensive end turned 4th round NFL draft pick. The list goes on and on.

Every once in a while, however, Northwestern lands a top end recruit (I’m defining "top end recruit" as a 4/5-star according to multiple recruiting outlets). The following post is dedicated to evaluating how these rare and elusive top end players have fared at Northwestern.

Unfortunately, this post might disappoint, because 1. There haven’t been very many and 2. Most are at early stages of their Northwestern careers (yay young talent!). Anyways, here it goes.

(Note – Rivals/Scout recruiting services started in 2002. No real recruiting data exists prior to that.)

(Note 2 – If you are confused by what the stars mean, click here)

2002

Loren Howard

Scout: 4-star #13 DT

Rivals: 4-star #26 DT

Consensus: (Averaged among all sites) 4-star #20 DT

Offers: Arizona State, Notre Dame, Washington, Nebraska

Career: As a true freshman in 2002, Howard started every game at defensive end, accumulated 81 tackles (2nd among NU linemen), and earned First Team Freshman All American honors. As a sophomore it was much the same, as Howard started every game, led all defensive linemen with 65 tackles, and was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection. Five days before the start of his junior season, Howard injured his left ankle and was limited for most of the year. Prior to his senior season, Howard transferred to his hometown school – Arizona State. Howard redshirted in 2005 before quitting football altogether prior to the 2006 season. He left Northwestern ranked 5th on the all time career Tackle for Loss (34) and Sack (11) totals, and finished with 171 career tackles. Before he quit football, Howard was considered the #11 DE in the 2007 draft by ESPN, and #13 according to Phil Steele.

Evaluation: If it hadn’t been for the injury, Howard could have become one of the nation’s top defensive linemen. He had great explosion, power, and speed, and emerged as a dominant force on Northwestern’s defensive line. I know this is cliché to say about injuries, but jeez, this injury in particular really stings. Even though he was unable to finish his football career, Howard undoubtedly deserved his 4-star rating.

Most Accurate: Scout

(Huge gap without a highly touted recruit)

2009

Patrick Ward

*While he only earned 4-stars from one recruiting service, he was close enough on the other two to be considered a "top end" talent.

Scout: 3-star #25 OT

Rivals: 4-star #17 OT #219 overall

ESPN: 79 (3-star) #18 OT

Consensus: Borderline 3/4-star #20 OT

Offers: Illinois, Iowa, Notre Dame, Purdue, Stanford, Virginia, Wisconsin

Career: Ward played on the offensive line starting his true freshman year, which is practically unheard of for an offensive lineman, and locked down a starting spot sophomore year and onwards. This past season, Ward started every game at left tackle where he earned honorable All-Big Ten considerations. He finished his career with 39 career starts. Ward will most certainly find a home in the NFL either as a late round draft pick, or more likely as an undrafted free agent.

Evaluation: Ward excelled at Northwestern as a consistent and even dominant force on the offensive line. A solid 4-star rating accurately depicts his play.

Most Accurate: Rivals

2010

Kyle Prater

*Initially committed to USC

Scout: 5-star #2 WR #4 overall

Rivals: 5-star #1 WR #3 overall (Rivals placed Prater higher than Robert Woods – you know, the guy with nearly 3,000 receiving yards in his past 3 years at USC)

ESPN: 4-star #9 WR

Consensus: 5-star #4 WR (Even while taking into account outlier ESPN)

Offers: USC (obviously), Alabama, Auburn, Miami, Michigan, Missouri, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Tennessee. Surprisingly, I don’t see a reported Northwestern offer coming out of high school. Obviously wasn’t good enough for us.

Career: Unlike Howard and Ward, Prater’s career is still in progress. He committed to USC in 2010 and redshirted his first year. As a redshirt freshman, Prater caught 1 pass for 6 yards. Then he transferred to Northwestern, where he subsequently caught 10 passes for 54 yards. Prater may be able to crack the starting rotation this upcoming season with the graduation of Demetrius Fields.

Evaluation: Wow! Northwestern has never come close to having a player as talented as Prater on its roster. Unfortunately, the hype he received coming out of high school has not yet come to fruition. Hopefully Prater shows off his 5-star abilities the next two seasons, gains 2,000 yards, scores tons of touchdowns, and eventually becomes a 1st round draft pick. If his current trend of play continues, however, it would be hard to justify granting him anything more than a 3-star ranking.

Most Accurate: ESPN

2012

Ifeadi Odenigbo

Scout: 4-star #5 OLB #76 overall

Rivals: 4-star #9 DE #99 overall

ESPN: 4-star #6 DE #51 overall

247: 4-star #8 OLB #98 overall

Consensus: 4-star #8 DE or #7 OLB #81 overall (Odenigbo is the highest ranked player that Northwestern has ever picked up on the recruiting trail)

Offers: Alabama, California, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, and others

Career: Odenigbo is a 6-3, 220 pound defensive end (a safety's build playing defensive end). He’s also a player that chose Northwestern over powerhouse programs such as Alabama, USC, Oklahoma, Michigan, Ohio State, etc., so he’s loaded with talent. Even with his weight limitations, Odenigbo cracked the two-deep and played five plays against Vanderbilt (I’m pretty sure they were all third-and-longs – AKA definite passing downs). After the game, Odenigbo suffered a super inconvenient/convenient and secretive shoulder injury that forced/allowed him to redshirt the season. If Odenigbo can gain 20-30 pounds and retain his quickness of the edge, he may turn into one of the premier pass rushers in the Big Ten.

Evaluation: TBD. Odenigbo has the talent, but not the size. I expect he will one day be a dominant force on the defensive line – maybe as early as next year. (Edit: just discovered this is only Odenigbo’s fourth year in organized football. He sure is an amazing athlete who has a super high ceiling).

Most Accurate: TBD

2013

Matt Alviti

Scout: 4-star #22 QB

Rivals: 4-star #11 Dual Threat QB

ESPN: 4-star #2 Dual Threat QB #164 overall

247: 4-star #7 Dual Threat QB #225 overall

Consensus: (Now made easy thanks to 247’s composite score) 4-star #7 Dual Threat QB #222 overall

Offers: Boston College, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Purdue

Career: TBD

Evaluation: Northwestern has churned out some top-notch QB’s in recent years, and Alviti arguably has more talent than any of them. Most likely will redshirt next year, backup Trevor Siemian for a year, and then duke it out Zack Oliver for his chance to start as a redshirt sophomore. This is all speculation – he may be good enough to take the job as a redshirt freshman, he may not get his chance until after Oliver graduates. Unless something goes awry, however, Alviti should be a multi-year starter at quarter back.

Most Accurate: TBD

Godwin Igwebuike

Scout: 4-star #22 S

Rivals: 3-star #39 ATH

ESPN: 4-star #55 ATH

247: 3-star #58 ATH

Consensus: Borderline 3/4-star #18 ATH #380 overall

Offers: Boston College, Duke, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, NC State, Wisconsin, and others

Career: TBD

Evaluation: I’m not going to lie – Igwebuike is a bit of a question mark. His offer sheet is not 4-star worthy in the slightest, and his future position is still murky. It looks like he’ll get a shot at running back, however, and I think that’s where he’ll stick. Nonetheless, I’m extremely excited for Igwebuike. He’s an amazing athlete who brings it every play, and will most likely make an impact at Northwestern in some way, shape or form. He’ll get a shot at the starting running back spot once Mark graduates, and may take the reigns as a redshirt freshman/true sophomore.

Most Accurate: TBD

While Northwestern has only landed a few top-notch recruits, they sure have gotten their money’s worth. Both Howard and Ward made impacts from the get-go, playing as true freshmen and locking down starting roles as sophomores. Prater has the talent to be a special player at Northwestern, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes the top guy next year (but then again, I said that prior to this season as well…). Odenigbo has the tools to be an All-Big Ten defensive end once he tacks on the weight. I’m especially excited to have top-end talent at the quarterback and running back spots in Alviti and Igwebuike – and we may see those two starting in the backfield a year and a half from now.

I think the above shows two things in particular.

1. While stars aren’t the defining characteristics as to whether or not a Northwestern player will be a difference maker, the extremely small sample size above indicates that top end recruits are more likely to make an immediate impact. Is this a cut and dry statement? Absolutely not (see: Prater, Kyle). But in general, the 4-star is more likely to make an immediate impact than the 3-star.

2. Northwestern’s recruiting is on the upswing. After Odenigbo committed, he said, "I’m hoping that by me committing there, hopefully I can attract a lot more big-time recruits to Northwestern. That’s the plan. It only takes one guy to make that happen." Well, that same year Northwestern scored Prater, and a year later landed two more 4-stars in Alviti and Igwebuike. That’s four top-end guys in two years, compared to just two in the previous ten years. This is really exciting. Northwestern was able to win 10 games with middling talent, just image the possibilities when this talent gets an upgrade.

Unfortunately, this post might disappoint, because 1. There haven’t been very many and 2. Most are at early stages of their Northwestern careers (yay young talent!). Anyways, here it goes.

(Note – Rivals/Scout recruiting services started in 2002. No real recruiting data exists prior to that.)

(Note 2 – If you are confused by what the stars mean, click here)

2002

Loren Howard

Scout: 4-star #13 DT

Rivals: 4-star #26 DT

Consensus: (Averaged among all sites) 4-star #20 DT

Offers: Arizona State, Notre Dame, Washington, Nebraska

Most Accurate: Scout

(Huge gap without a highly touted recruit)

2009

Patrick Ward

*While he only earned 4-stars from one recruiting service, he was close enough on the other two to be considered a "top end" talent.

Scout: 3-star #25 OT

Rivals: 4-star #17 OT #219 overall

ESPN: 79 (3-star) #18 OT

Consensus: Borderline 3/4-star #20 OT

Offers: Illinois, Iowa, Notre Dame, Purdue, Stanford, Virginia, Wisconsin

Evaluation: Ward excelled at Northwestern as a consistent and even dominant force on the offensive line. A solid 4-star rating accurately depicts his play.

Most Accurate: Rivals

2010

Kyle Prater

*Initially committed to USC

Scout: 5-star #2 WR #4 overall

Rivals: 5-star #1 WR #3 overall (Rivals placed Prater higher than Robert Woods – you know, the guy with nearly 3,000 receiving yards in his past 3 years at USC)

ESPN: 4-star #9 WR

Consensus: 5-star #4 WR (Even while taking into account outlier ESPN)

Most Accurate: ESPN

2012

Ifeadi Odenigbo

Scout: 4-star #5 OLB #76 overall

Rivals: 4-star #9 DE #99 overall

ESPN: 4-star #6 DE #51 overall

247: 4-star #8 OLB #98 overall

Consensus: 4-star #8 DE or #7 OLB #81 overall (Odenigbo is the highest ranked player that Northwestern has ever picked up on the recruiting trail)

Offers: Alabama, California, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, and others

Most Accurate: TBD

2013

Matt Alviti

Scout: 4-star #22 QB

Rivals: 4-star #11 Dual Threat QB

ESPN: 4-star #2 Dual Threat QB #164 overall

247: 4-star #7 Dual Threat QB #225 overall

Consensus: (Now made easy thanks to 247’s composite score) 4-star #7 Dual Threat QB #222 overall

Offers: Boston College, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Purdue

Career: TBD

Most Accurate: TBD

Godwin Igwebuike

Scout: 4-star #22 S

Rivals: 3-star #39 ATH

ESPN: 4-star #55 ATH

247: 3-star #58 ATH

Consensus: Borderline 3/4-star #18 ATH #380 overall

Offers: Boston College, Duke, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, NC State, Wisconsin, and others

Career: TBD

Most Accurate: TBD

I think the above shows two things in particular.

Northwestern/Illinois Recruiting in the State of Illinois

Lightning McQueen — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 22:36:24 -0000

With National Signing Day around the corner, I decided to see how Northwestern faired at recruiting the state of Illinois - who they offered, where their targets went, and most importantly, how they competed against the University of Illinois. The numbers I'm using come from Rivals.com, the site I feel has historically been the most accurate evaluator of talent.

This has been a slightly weaker year in terms of top to bottom talent in the state - Rivals only considers 7 in-state prospects as 4-star talents. Comparatively, there were 9 4-stars in the 2012 class, 8 4-stars in the 2011 class, and 8 5/4-stars in the 2010 class (Kyle Prater is that lone 5-star, lolz).

The following are players from the state of Illinois that received a Northwestern offer:

#2 - Ty Issac (RB) - Committed to USC. Issac is a very, very, very good prospect. While Northwestern offered, they were never really considered. Early on, Michigan looked like the team to beat for Issac's services. Then Notre Dame and USC jumped into the picture, and Issac eventually chose the Trojans, opting for warm weather, attractive ladies, and a scumbag coach. He's the #4 RB in the nation, so I guess it's a good thing we won't have to deal with him in the B1G.

#4 - Kyle Bosch (OL) - Committed to Michigan. Michigan led from the get-go - and he committed to the Wolverines nearly a year ago. I'm a big fan of Bosch's abilities - he will be a very good tackle down the line for Michigan.

#5 - Aaron Bailey (QB) - Committed to Illinois. Bailey is a pretty good quarterback prospect, and early on stated that he was leaning towards the Wildcats. However, Northwestern was only looking for one quarterback in the class, and when Matt Alviti committed on April 14, 2012, Bailey's offer may no longer have been valid. 12 days later, Bailey committed to Illinois. Both Bailey and Alviti are similar in ability - Bailey is probably faster, Alviti probably has the better arm. In a few years, we may see a Kain Colter v. Nate Scheelhaase matchup reincarnated with Alviti and Bailey.

#6 - Matt Alviti (QB) - Committed to NORTHWESTERN. The aforementioned Alviti is your typical Northwestern quarterback, with potentially more talent and definitely more hype. I like Roger's comparison to Dan Persa with a better arm. This kid is a unanimous 4 star talent, and definitely a player to get excited about. Along with the Northwestern offer, he received offers from a ton of B1G schools (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Nebraska, Purdue), and Notre Dame. After redshirting next season and an additional year spent backing up Trevor Siemian, Alviti may very well be the Northwestern starting quarterback from his redshirt-sophomore year onwards.

#11 - Colin McGovern (OL) - Committed to Notre Dame. Northwestern was his first and only offer for a long time. It seemed like he was just waiting for Notre Dame to offer, and when they finally did, he pounced. He's definitely a good talent, with offers from the likes of Michigan, Alabama, and Ohio State.

#12 - Darius Mosely (CB) - Committed to Illinois. Mosely never really showed much interest in Northwestern. He's a solid 3-star prospect.

#13 - Jalen Banks (S) - Committed to Vanderbilt. Banks is a pretty good safety prospect who racked up 10 interceptions his senior year. As to why he chose Vanderbilt over Northwestern, Banks said, "People ask me why not Northwestern. They’re similar to Vandy but the SEC is the SEC. This is the best of both worlds. If I want to go to the NFL, NFL scouts will see me and make a legit evaluation." Damn it, SEC.

#16 - Tyler Lancaster (C) - Committed to NORTHWESTERN. Lancaster is rated as the #6 center in the country according to Rivals. His only other offers are from the MAC, but he had interest from other B1G programs. He committed fairly early on in the process, and may have earned other offers had he not committed so soon. He'll need a year to redshirt and bulk up, but looks like a solid potential multi-year starter down the road.

#21 - Matt Harris (CB) - Committed to NORTHWESTERN. Harris can play both WR or CB, but was recruited by Northwestern to play CB. An across the board 3-star, Harris had offers from Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, among others. He's a great athlete, albeit a bit raw. With more coaching, he should develop into a reliable CB.

#29 - Nathan Marcus (TE) - Committed to Vanderbilt. Marcus expressed interest in Northwestern, but eventually chose for Vandy. He had offers from bottom-feeding ACC schools, Indiana, and Toledo, along with Northwestern and Vanderbilt. Marcus needs to bulk up, as he weighs somewhere in the ballpark of 190-210 lbs. He's a strong pass catcher, but needs work on his blocking abilities.

#32 - Blake King (OL) - Committed to NORTHWESTERN. Northwestern's seconds commit of the class, King would have probably received more offers (he received offers from Toledo and Western Michigan) had he let his recruitment drag out further. He committed immediately upon receiving his offer. At 6'5'', 270 lb, King will most likely take a redshirt year to bulk up. He projects as either a guard or tackle.

NR - Tommy Fuessel (ATH) - Committed to NORTHWESTERN. Fuessel played quarterback in high school, and is a unanimously rated 2-star prospect. He's coming in as an athlete, and may get a chance at quarterback, wide receiver, or cornerback. I like getting athletes that played quarterback in high school because they typically are smart football players with good instincts. Prior to his Northwestern offer, he was committed to Northern Illinois.

Northwestern Commits from Illinois: *#6 Matt Alviti (4-star QB), #16 Tyler Lancaster (3-star OL), *#21 Matt Harris (3-star CB), #32 Blake King (3-star OL), NR Tyler Fuessel (2-star ATH). (* = holds Illinois offer)

Illinois Commits from Illinois: *#5 Aaron Bailey (4-star QB), *#12 Darius Mosely (3-star CB), #15 Reggie Spearman (3-star LB), #20 Dillon Cazley (3-star CB), #27 Merrick Jackson (3-star DT), #30 Kendrick Foster (3-star RB), NR Bryce Douglas (3-star DT), NR Jaylen Dunlap (2-star DB), NR Miguel Hermosillo (2-star ATH). (* = holds Northwestern offer)

Northwestern received 5 of its 19 commits from the state of Illinois, while Illinois received 9 of its 26 commits from Illinois. Out of Northwestern's commits from the state, 2 held Illinois offers. Similarly, out of the Illini's in-state commits, 2 held Northwestern offers (however Bailey's offer may have no longer been valid once Alviti committed). All in all, Northwestern and Illinois split in terms of in-state recruiting, both in quality of players and in head to head match-ups.

In comparison, last year, both Northwestern and Illinois took 2 of the state's top 30 players. In 2011, Illinois took 5 of the top 30 in-state prospects, while Northwestern took 3. In 2010, Illinois took 4 of the top 30 (including 1 4-star) to Northwestern's 1 (but hey...we also got the #1 guy in Prater). Northwestern is definitely closing its in-state recruiting gap against Illinois, and the playing field may just be even now. A couple more years of Northwestern being awesome and Illinois being...well...bad, may just turn Northwestern into the premier in-state recruiting power.

I'm fairly new to the blog and this is my first post. I'm a big fan of recruiting, and if this post goes over favorably, I'd be happy to help fill the recruiting void in this blog by posting more updates on how Northwestern is fairing on the recruiting trail.

Thanks!

The following are players from the state of Illinois that received a Northwestern offer:

#12 - Darius Mosely (CB) - Committed to Illinois. Mosely never really showed much interest in Northwestern. He's a solid 3-star prospect.

Thanks!