Fitz landing a couple big boys already. NU is up to 4 verbals right now. We got a couple big linemen from the Naperville area. NIU historically seemed to have the market on big linemen from Naperville. It's good to see that Fitz is getting some of those boys on the Northside.

From the naperville sun...
Two area players pick Northwestern

June 7, 2007
Offensive linemen Jeff Radek of Neuqua Valley and Chuck Porcelli of Montini, both Naperville natives, recently gave early verbal commitments to play Big Ten football at Northwestern, beginning in the fall of 2008.

Radek, a 6-foot, 6-inch, 275-pound senior-to-be, made his decision Tuesday, becoming the first Big Ten recruit produced by Neuqua.

In the 2006 season, Radek helped Neuqua to an 8-2 mark and 1,825 rushing yards. He weighed other offers from Wyoming, Cincinnati and Rice, but went with Northwestern because he said its coaching staff expressed the most interest.

"It's a lot of stress off my shoulders," Radek told The Sun on Wednesday. "Now I can go into my senior year and concentrate on football."

Neuqua has produced previous Division I football players in the Pac-10 and Mid-American conferences.

Porcelli, a 6-8, 285-pound senior-to-be, helped the 2006 Broncos to a 5-5 overall record and third-place finish in the Suburban Catholic Conference. He chose Northwestern over Wyoming, New Mexico, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Toledo and Northern Illinois.

Any news from Iowa City, Hawkeye Vince?

The big news was the departure of junior RB Shonn Greene from the squad. He was going to be red-shirted this year to keep two years of eligibility when Young and Sims graduated. No reason was given, but it probably had to do with grades. He's headed to junior college and hopes to come back when he gets the grades in order.

They have signed two guys for next year. One has a familiar last name.
James Ferentz is looked to be a center and one of the top offensive line recruits in Iowa. The second signing was a DE/LB from South Dakota names Riley Reiff. He was heavily recruited by Nebraska, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Iowa had success with a similar player from South Dakota named Chad Greenway.

Wow... I don't want another Chad Greenway across the field from my Cats. That IS a scary prospect.

By the way, when do you think James Ferentz gave his verbal? Maybe at the dinner table or while they were raking leaves in the yard?

It was probably on allowance day when Kirk pressed him for an answer before giving him his 20 bucks a week for taking out the trash.

NU up to 7 verbals now. Go Fitz, go.

Damn Stanford. Andrew Luck would have looked good in a Purdue uniform(and alright in a Northwestern uniform).

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

MUD, I'll ignore your failed attempt at Illini humor in the other thread.

Zook, or "The Boob" as Reason likes to call him, has 8 verbals including a couple 4 star type guys at this point. Mostly linemen and defensive backs.

Encouraging to me is that they have verbals from 5 of the top 20 or so Illinois people which in the pre-Zook days would be about 4 of which maybe 2 would actually go to Illinois.

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You know me like that.

Umm, I suppose quantity is good, but can you offer an assessment of the quality of these recruits?

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they all suck... c'mon it's Northwestern.


Seriously, the are a collection of 2 and 3 star recruits (Rivals rankings)... NU never gets the 4 and 5 star guys. That's for the Buckeyes and Wolverines!

Dr. Noisewater. I'm also just joshing about the Illini... some show up. Good fans, but they should have lots more people in the stands at away games. I (of course) cannot throw stones. Real NU fans are few and faaaaaaaar between.

By the way, TM... I thought I was the only one who liked Uncle Tupelo. Very impressed.