Rivals releases Pre-season Top 30 in Illinois

Red - Interested or already committed to NIU

Rivals.com Illinois Preseason Top 30 2009 | Rivals.com Football Recruiting | last sorted on 7/10/2008

2009 Rank			Pos	Ht/Wt	Schools
1	Chris Watt Glen Ellyn (IL) Glenbard West		OL	6-3/280	list
	Chris Watt is the younger brother of Northwestern DL Kevin Watt.
2	Kraig Appleton East St. Louis (IL) East St. Louis		WR	6-3/190	list
	Earned all-metro honors in 2007.
3	Craig Drummond Chicago (IL) Morgan Park		DE	6-5/260	list
	Named as an all city, all conference and all state performer for the Mustangs and head coach Lexie Spurlock.
4	Terry Hawthorne East St. Louis (IL) East St. Louis		WR	6-0/168	list
	Had 1,152 yards receiving as a junior.
5	Patrick Ward New Lenox (IL) Providence Catholic		OL	6-6/295	list
	Named as an all conference and all area performer for the Celtics and head coach Mark Coglianese.
6	Michael Schofield Orland Park (IL) Sandburg		OL	6-6/272	Michigan
	Named as an all conference and all area performer for the Eagles and head coach Dave Wierzal.
7	Leon Hill Chicago (IL) Leo		OL	6-4/320	Illinois
	Ranked as one of the nation's top guards.
8	Lendell Buckner Chicago (IL) Leo		DT	6-3/341	Illinois
	Ranked as one of the nation's top defensive tackles.
9	Jon Budmayr Woodstock (IL) Marian Central Catholic		QB	6-0/194	Wisconsin
	Earned all-state honors as both a junior and a sophomore.
10	Darren Jones Harvey (IL) Thornton Township		QB	6-3/195	list
	Named as an all conference and all area selection for the Wildcats and head coach Bill Mosel.
11	Evan Watkins Carol Stream (IL) Glenbard North		QB	6-6/230	Northwestern
	Named as an all conference, all area and an all state selection for the Panthers and head coach Ryan Wilkins.
12	Sean Cascarano Glenview (IL) Glenbrook South		OL	6-6/270	Virginia
	Cascarano will be a three year varsity starter in 2008 for the Titans and head coach Mike Noll.
13	Michael Buchanan Homewood (IL) Homewood Flossmoor		DE	6-6/220	list
	Named as an all area selection for the Vikings and head coach Kenneth Smith.
14	Mike Trumpy Wheaton (IL) Wheaton North		RB	6-0/197	Northwestern
	In 2007 was named as an all conference, all area and All State performer for the Falcons.
15	Greg Fuller Harvey (IL) Thornton Township		RB	6-1/242	Illinois
	In 2007 was named as an all conference and all area selection for the Wildcats and head coach Bill Mosel. Fuller will be a rare four year varsity starter in 2008.
16	Darius Moffett Chicago (IL) Hubbard		LB	6-3/225	list
	Will be a rare four year varsity starter in 2008 for the Greyhounds and head coach Elton Harris.
17	Jack Baucus Mundelein (IL) Carmel Catholic		TE	6-6/233	Arizona
	Is a talented two sport athlete (football/basketball) for the Corsairs and head coach Andy Bitto.
18	Anthony Wells North Chicago (IL) North Chicago		DE	6-2/229	list
	Wells will be a three year varsity letterman for the Warhawks and head coach Mike Grenda in 2008.
19	Dimitrius Carr Chicago (IL) Mount Carmel		LB	6-1/200	Indiana
	Carr is a talented two sport athlete (football/track) for the Caravan and head coach Frank Lenti.
20	Anthony Battle Chicago (IL) Mt. Carmel		DE	6-3/230	Northwestern
	Battle as a junior in 2007 was named as an all conference performer for the Caravan and head coach Frank Lenti.
21	Alex Smith Barrington (IL) Barrington		LB	6-3/225	list
	In 2007 was named as an all conference and all area performer for the Broncos and head coach Joey Sanchez.
22	AJ Hill DuQuoin (IL) Du Quoin		QB	6-2/200	Northern Illinois
	Iin 2007 was named as an all conference and all area performer for the Indians and head coach Al Martin.
23	Kyle Zelinsky Bartlett (IL) Bartlett		LB	6-0/220	list
	As a junior in 2007 was named as an all conference and all area performer for the Hawks and head coach Tom Meaney.
24	Tommie Hopkins East St. Louis (IL) East St. Louis		DB	5-11/175	list
	Often overlooked because of highly ranked teammates.
25	Dan Orseske Chicago (IL) Brother Rice		K	6-3/195	Minnesota
	One of the region's top kickers.
26	Martin Hopkins Chicago (IL) St. Rita		LB	6-2/234	list
	As a junior in 2007 was named as an all conference selection for the Mustangs and head coach Todd Kuska.
27	Jake Baratz Naperville (IL) Naperville North		OL	6-4/275	list
	As a junior in 2007 was named as an academic all conference performer for the Huskies and head coach Larry McKeon.
28	Jordan Lynch Chicago (IL) Mount Carmel		QB	6-2/205	Northern Illinois
	As a junior in 2007 was named as an all conference and all area performer for the Caravan and head coach Frank Lenti.
29	Ethan Armstrong Ottawa (IL) Ottawa Township		LB	6-2/215	list
	As a junior in 2007 was named as an all conference and all area performer for the Pirates and head coach Trent Swords.
30	Cody O'Neill Woodstock (IL) Marian Central Catholic		OL	6-2/294	list
	As a junior in 2007 was named as an all conference and all area performer for the Hurricanes and head coach Ed Brucker.

BGSU, Kent St players arrested

Projected starter Junior DT Jacob Hardwick & Sophomore Backup DT Orlando Barrow are kicked off the Bowling Green Falcons Football team.

Per NBC 24 Toledo:

About 10:25 p.m. June 2, three intruders reportedly broke into an apartment at the Enclave II complex wearing masks and carrying what appeared to be handguns. They demanded marijuana from the occupants then proceeded to ransack the apartment.

Mr. Hardwick's former roommate, Orlando Barrow, 19, was arrested the night of the crime and later was indicted on the same charges. He is free on bond.

The charges are of robbery and aggravated burglary. Possibly, the third suspect in this crime could be a football player as well. Definitely not what the Falcons had planned.

Definitely more chances for Justin Anderson to run a muck October 25th in Huskie Stadium. It will be the first time since 2004 that we will be playing the hated BUGS Falcons, which is too long. They should move back to the MAC West with Army taking their spot in the East.




In other police blotter, projected starting SS for the Golden Flashes Brian Lainhart and backup MLB Cobrani Mixon both pleaded guilty to burglary, a fourth degree felony on Monday according to Kent News Net

Both players are sophomores and the news reports that penalties have already been handed out. They are still on the roster, so I expect a multiple game suspension.

The players must also each pay one-third of the damage fees. The sentencing will be up to the court. The charge carries up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine plus court costs.

The charges stem from an incident in Brimfield when the players allegedly kicked the door in at a party and assaulted a person there.

At the hearing, prosecuting attorney Stephen Michniak said he would not be opposed to probation for Lainhart, as he had no part in the assault.

The court can still choose to give Lainhart a prison sentence. The players will go through a pre-sentencing investigation before the court sentences them at a later date. The players will also continue their bond.

Recruiting Time Machine: The 2004 Class

I've been seeing in a lot of articles that NIU is in a complete rebuilding mode. I, however, don't think this is the case at all. In fact, I think that NIU currently has more raw talent than any team has had before us.

The problem is that the talent we currently have hasn't lived up to their previous hype. This, to me, is a problem of motivation. That problem either had to do with coaching or recruiting the wrong players. Or both.

Former Huskie HC Joe Novak said before the WMU game that "I'm not sure this program is as hungry as it was then, I hope that's not the case," and that "Players came to NIU expecting to win without hard work day in and out."

Every current player on this team wasn't around to experience the success that we had in 2003 being nationally ranked with a 10-2 record. In 2004 we were 9-3 with a bowl win, but it has been downhill since then.

The players of the class of 2004 were recruited during the magical dream season of 2003 and I'm sure all of them have dreams of capturing the same success that the team acheived while they were being recruited. They have seen what this team can become and have struggled through numerous attritions of recent years. Now, the class of 2004:


Class Rankings

Phil Steele - #5 in the MAC
Rivals - #2 in the MAC, #73 Overall
Scout - #9 in the MAC, #99 Overall

Class Size - 15 of 23 remain

Location: 8 - IL, 6 - WI, 3 - FL, 2 - MN, 2 - IN, 1 - MO, 1 - MI


Top of the Class (in alphabetical order)

60 RT Jon Brost
Rivals rating: 2-stars, 5.1
Scout rating: 2-stars
Phil Steele ranking: #284 OL

Was 3rd team All-MAC LY and leads the team with 35 career starts.

51 DE Larry English
Rivals rating: 2-stars, 5.2
Scout rating: 2-stars
PS ranking: #477 DL
Other offers: Ball St, BGSU, CMU

Earned the Vern Smith MAC Leadership award (MAC MVP) LY. DNP in the spring.

69 DT Alex Krutsch
WALK-ON

Started 11 of 12 games LY and managed to stay healthy game in and game out.

53 LB Tim McCarthy
Rivals rating: 2-stars
Scout rating: 1-star
PS ranking: #205 LB

Was the leader of our defense until he hurt his knee in the first game of the season LY. DNP in the spring.

99 DT Craig Rusch
Rivals rating: 2-stars
Scout rating: 1-star
PS ranking: #225 DL

Craig is an absolute monster until he injured his kneed in the 3rd game LY. Can't wait to have him back. DNP in the spring. My favorite player.

85 WR Matt Simon
Rivals rating: 2-stars, 5.1
Scout rating: 1-star
PS ranking: #243 WR
Other offers: Northwestern, Wyoming

The most consistent offensive star for the Huskies in 2007. Snub from the All-MAC team. DNP in the spring (shoulder surgery).


Under-acheivers

20 TB Montell Clanton
Rivals rating: 2-stars, 5.1
Scout rating: 1-star
PS ranking: #258 RB

I am cautiously optimistic about Montell this upcoming season. He is coming off season-ending injuries to both his knees these past 2 seasons. If he can even just give Justin Anderson some breathing time, I would be amazed. DNP in the spring.

7 WR Britt Davis
Rivals rating: 3-stars, 5.5, #22 dual-threat QB, #18 player in IL
Scout rating: 2-stars
PS ranking: #85 QB
Other offers: Indiana

Britt Davis is a WR converted from a QB and has been unproductive with the amount of talent that he posesses. Also has notoriously bad hands. DNP in the spring (shoulder surgery)

19 QB Dan Nicholson
Rivals rating: 2-stars, 5.4
Scout rating: 2-stars
PS ranking: #68 QB

Once a revered QB that led us to a MACC game, Dan has fell off a little and has some trouble with health and throwing the ball to the opposition. DNP in the spring (shoulder surgery)

5 WR Marcus Perez
LATE SIGNEE

MPZ is always hurt no matter what. Also has a lot of talent and not much production.


The Backups

13 WR Evans Adonis
Rivals rating: 2-stars
Scout rating: 1-star
PS ranking: #182 WR

Is buried on the depth chart for WR, but could find a place with kickoff returns.

88 TE Brandon Beal
Rivals rating: 2-stars
Scout rating: 2-stars
PS ranking: #102 TE
Other offers: Ball St

Buried on the TE depth chart.

23 LB TJ Griffin
Rivals rating: 2-stars, 5.0
Scout rating: 2-stars
PS ranking: #287 RB
Other offers: Cincinnati

Has always had a ton of potential, but has had some trouble in the past with injuries and academics. Can step in right away for Tim McCarthy without missing a beat at MLB.

78 OG Dan Keller
Rivals rating: 2-stars
Scout rating: 1-star
PS ranking: N/A

Dan did a nice job filling in at DT last year when we were decimated by injuries, and this year he returns to a backup RG spot.

91 TE Dave Koronkiewicz
Rivals rating: 2-stars
Scout rating: 1-star
PS ranking: #91 TE

Koronkiewicz has the talent to start, but it seems like he is always injured. Dislocated elbows have to hurt. DNP in the spring.


Who are these guys?

QB Chris Carr
Rivals rating: 2-stars
Scout rating: 1-star
PS ranking: #281 QB

Grayshirted and then transferred to UCF. Played there from 2006-07.

DL Bryan Holicek
Rivals rating: 2-stars
Scout rating: 1-star
PS ranking: #253 DL

Career ending knee injuries, DNP 2006 season

SS Bill Ikegwuonu
Rivals rating: 2-stars
Scout rating: 2-stars
PS ranking: #384 DB
Other offers: Ball St, WMU

X-Box Incident during 2006 season

DB Justin Johnson
Rivals rating: 2-stars, 4.9
Scout rating: 1-star
PS ranking: #197 DB

Quit before 2006 season

DL Mike Matar
Rivals rating: 2-stars
Scout rating: 1-star
PS ranking: #223 DL

Quit before 2005 season

6 CB Vincent Matthew
Rivals rating: 2-stars
Scout rating: 1-star
PS ranking: #275 WR

Not on the team this season to focus on his academics

DE Zach Osburn
Rivals rating: 2-stars, 5.1
Scout rating: 1-star
PS ranking: #164 LB

D-III Hope College Basketball Forward since 2007

OL Ryan Tuggle
Rivals rating: 2-stars, 5.2
Scout rating: 2-stars
PS ranking: #250 DL
Other offers: Northwestern

Career ending injury, DNP 2006 season

Familiar name commits to Coach Kill

Downstate QB makes his college choice (Rivals.com)

A.J. Hill is brothers with former SIU QB Nick Hill, who is currently on the Chicago Bears roster. He is the 2nd verbal commitment so far to the Huskies. This is a great get for NIU, because of how bad we needed to recruit a quality QB this year. Unlike his brother Nick, AJ's first sports is Football and might even be more talented. Finally a recruit we can all be extremely happy about; it's been a while.


A.J. Hill, QB***
6'2" 200 lbs
DuQuoin (IL) Du Quoin

GPA: 3.64
Rivals.com Rating: 5.5

Rivals Profile
Scout Profile

Other offers: Eastern Illinois & Southern Illinois

All-Conference selection as a junior after completing 76 of 140 passes for 1056 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Highlights from his JR year:

Eskimos bring AJ Harris back

Esks bring back two familiar faces (Edmonton Sun)

Needing to kick-start the running game, the Edmonton Eskimos have brought back two familiar faces - running backs AJ Harris and Ron McClendon.

Both players were cut at the end of training camp but added to the team's roster today.

Harris is on the 46-man active roster. McClendon is on the practice roster.

"These are two individuals when we had to let them go at the end of training camp we didn't have any place for them," said Edmonton head coach Danny Maciocia.

"Now we have got a couple of openings and we are bringing them back."

Damien Anderson - Edmonton's starting running back through the first two games of the regular-season - has struggled to gain serious yardage through handoffs.

A 2.4-yard average on 12 carries in last Thursday's win over Calgary left Maciocia to state the running game needs to get better.

Based on the practice roster rules, Harris or McClendon could be activated for Thursday's home game against Toronto.

At this point, it's unclear who will be the starting tailback for the Esks in Week 3.

Time for some AJ Harris up north! The opportunity is there to preserve a starting spot for the Edmonton Eskimos CFL team.

In Arena FB news, former NIU kickers Steve Azar and Chris Nendick were both eliminated from the playoffs this weekend for NY and Chicago respectively.

Scout.com free all weekend

Anybody wanting to check out what Scout.com has to offer in terms of coverage of NIU, you can access everything this weekend without having to try that 7-day trial thingy. So go check out HuskiePride.com for all your NIU coverage.

Huskies currently in the pros

First of all...



It's sometimes hard to follow where some of these guys go, as alumni seem to appear and disappear year in and year out. I've been able to find the whereabouts of all these former Huskies:

Pro Baseball

LHP Matt German - Clearwater Threshers (High A League)
RHP Trevor Feeney - Oneonta Tigers (Short-season A League)
SS Bobby Stevens - Bluefield Orioles (Rookie League)

Bobby Stevens is sometimes referred to as "Robert Stevens"


NFL

TE Brad Cieslak - Cleveland Browns (Backup)
OT Ryan Diem - Indianapolis Colts (Starter)
OT Doug Free - Dallas Cowboys (Backup)
WR Sam Hurd - Dallas Cowboys (Backup)
WR Justin McCareins - Tennessee Titans (Projected Starter)
TE/FB Jake Nordin - Baltimore Ravens (Backup Fullback)
DT Hollis Thomas - New Orleans Saints (Projected Starter)
RB Michael Turner - Atlanta Falcons (Starter)
RB Garrett Wolfe - Chicago Bears (Backup)

Arena Football

K Steve Azar - New York Dragons (Starter, AFL)
K Chris Nendick - Chicago Rush (Backup, AFL)
DE Quince Holman - Bloomington Extreme (Starter, UIF Arena League)

Canadian Football League

DB Randee Drew - Montreal Alouettes (Starter, CFL)
RB AJ Harris - Edmonton Eskimos (Starter, CFL)
WR/KR Dan Sheldon - Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Backup, CFL)

Updated 2008-09 Basketball Roster

Next year should be a tremendous improvement for the NIU Huskie men's basketball team. This past year was a transition year playing with the mess that injuries and Judson left us. Remember, Division I basketball teams have a max of 13 scholarships to hand out.

Since my last report, players transferred and players signed on and it was a big mess. 10 players have departed. 5 seniors left and then 2 would-be SRs, a JR, a SO and a FR all transferred.

We will also be seeing 8 eligible new players on the NIU Basketball team this upcoming season. So here is the updated NIU Basketball roster:


'08 Seniors leaving
25 F Shaun Logan, 6'7" 206
21 F Egan Grafel, 6'10" 229
33 G/F Ben Rand, 6'7" 175
10 G Ryan Paradise, 6'0" 168
44 F Michael Hart, 6'7" 209

Transfers:
15 G/F Zach Pancratz, 6'4" 199 (D-II Rollins College, FL) SR
3 G Jarvis Nichols, 6'2" 219 (D-II Emporia State, KS) SR
31 F Bristan Kelley, 6'6" 244 (D-II Towson State Football, MO) JR

Kicked-off players:
22 G Cody Yelder, 6'1" 177 SO
14 F Darrius Gaters, 6'6" 209 FR

------------------------------------------------------------------

'09 Seniors:
12 F Sean Smith, 6'7" 215

'10 Juniors:
15 C Ante Dzepina, 6'8" 235 (JUCO)
2 F Najul Ervin, 6'5" 207
SG Dominique Johnson, 6'5" 190 (JUCO, DNQ)
SG Jerwin Callaway, 6'2" 195 (JUCO, DNQ)

'11 Sophomores:
32 G Darion "Jake" Anderson, 6'2" 200
41 C Sean Kowal, 6'11" 240 (Colorado transfer)
24 G Jeremy Landers, 6'2" 184
4 G Michael Patton, 5'10" 177 (Walk-On)
13 G Xavier Silas, 6'5" 195 (JR Colorado Transfer, has to sit year out)

'12 Redshirt Freshmen:
55 C Michael Fakuade, 6'7" 218 (Walk-On)
30 F Lee Fisher, 6'5" 197 (Walk-On)

'12 True Freshmen:
44 SF Tyler Storm, 6'7" 210
11 PG Mike Dinunno, 5'11" 160
1 PG Bryan Hall, 6'1" 170
10 PG Keith Smith, 5'5" 135


Total previous D-I experience that the 2007-08 team had: 6
(Rand - 3, Logan - 1, Grafel - 1, Kelley - 1)

Total previous D-I experience the 2008-09 team will have: 6
(Anderson - 1, Smith - 1, Patton - 1, Landers - 1, Ervin - 1, Kowal - 1)


Starters returning:

G Jake Anderson (19 starts, 74% of minutes played)
G Michael Patton (11 starts, 44.5% of minutes played)
F Sean Smith (9 starts, 45.2% of minutes played)
G Jeremy Landers (8 starts, 31.5% of minutes played)
F Najul Ervin (2 starts, 23.8% of minutes played)

NEW MAC LOGO!

My first remarks is that this is going to take some getting used to that's for sure. Looks like the MAC is sponsored by the Seattle Seahawks or something. MLS soccer comes to mind. No more Chrismas colors! What do you think? Poll coming...

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