Recruiting: August 2008 Archives

As written about in today's Sun, the Big Ten has formally proposed an early three-day signing period for college football recruits that would begin on the third Wednesday of December. Many coaches like Purdue's Joe Tiller are strong advocates for the policy, arguing that it strengthens the verbal commitments of prospects and saves money for universities. Some, like Illinois' Ron Zook, feel an even earlier signing period gives coaches even less time to get to know the personalities of recruits.

Personally, I can't make up my mind on this either way. On the one hand, I understand Tiller's perspective and on the other I get Zook's attitude as well. What do you think? Is this a good thing for recruits? Is it a good for the game?

Naperville North senior Kyle Gibson was the subject of a Q&A with Dyestat.com on Tuesday and I put the quotes around chats in the headline because it seems clear from the transcript that this was an e-mail exchange. Either that or the author doesn't believe in spellcheck.

Gibson dished on his experience of competing at last year's Class AAA cross country state meet while battling bronchitis, stated that North won't be satisfied with anything less than a state championship and listed Oklahoma State, Portland and Iona as his possible college destinations.

Gibson, who placed third in the 3,200 meters this spring at the state track meet, also took a playful shot in at teammate David McWilliams.

David McWilliams is also a really good runner having a great summer that not many people know too much because he plays baseball in the spring(he's an old man though so his hip needs to hold up).

Naperville Central senior Drew Crawford established himself as a clutch performer last season, winning games with the clock ticking down and earning postseason honors such as The Sun's Player of the Year.

This summer he has been working the AAU circuit and adding the return addresses of Division I coaches to his mailbox. Chicagohoops.com recognized the progress over the weekend with its newest Top Illinois Class of 2009 Basketball Prospects list.

Crawford is No. 18 on the 35 player list. That's up from 29th on a similar list from May. He remains the only DuPage Valley Conference performer in the rankings and is the second-highest player from the western burbs behind Diamond Taylor of Bolingbrook.

Neuqua Valley wide receiver Josh Schaffer will be playing his college football at Western Michigan, and he told the Kalazmoo Gazette that the family atmosphere at WMU is what convinced him to commit to the Bronocos instead of his other suitors.

Both ESPN.com and Scout.com reported Schaffer's commitment over the weekend.

"I thought about playing my senior year and signing after," said Schaffer, who had interest from Central Michigan and Northern Illinois, among others, but no other offers yet. "But I went up Friday and watched practice. After that, I pretty much knew where I wanted to be.

"Coach Cubit, coach (Mike) Sabock, coach (Mike) Grant, the coaching staff, they made me feel like family. They made me feel at home, and the players are great to be around. It made me want to come to Western Michigan."

Who's Jake Baratz you ask? Good question...

Baratz is a 6-foot-4, 275-pound senior offensive lineman for Naperville North, the defending Class 8A state champs. He was a part-time starter last year and missed four and a half games because of injury.

Even so, he must have assembled enough game tape to lure not only Arizona into a scholarship offer but also Northern Illinois and Miami of Ohio. He finally verbally committed to Arizona on Tuesday night and reported it to edgytim.com on Wednesday, a week before the first day of practice.

In an email to The Sun on Thursday, North coach Larry McKeon said, "He has great potential as an offensive lineman."