NU lands Falcons' Trumpy

This winter Wheaton North junior Mike Trumpy took his own personal college recruiting tour.

Over the course of several weekends he visited Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Purdue, Indiana and Notre Dame.

Trumpy's recruiting road, however, ended much closer to home.

On Thursday the Wheaton North running back gave his verbal commitment to Northwestern University, fulfilling a lifelong dream to play Division I football.

"Right away I loved Northwestern -- even before they offered me," he said. "I saw everything I needed to see. I knew Northwestern was the best place for me."

Trumpy received scholarship offers from Vanderbilt, Stanford, Miami of Ohio, Eastern and Western Michigan, and Northern Illinois.

The first offer -- from Northwestern -- turned out to be the one that stuck. Trumpy has been told he'll remain a running back, something he was told by all the colleges that offered him a scholarship.

Other schools told Trumpy they'd like him to move to defensive back, something he also remained open to doing.

"I'd be fine playing anything but I prefer to play running back," he said.

Who could blame him?

Trumpy, in his first full varsity season last fall, rushed for 1,664 yards and 19 touchdowns, helping lead the Falcons to their first playoff appearance since 2003.

Trumpy will have some familiar company in Evanston. He'll join Falcons senior offensive lineman Nick Adamle and Glenbard North junior quarterback Evan Watkins, who committed to the Wildcats a couple of weeks ago.

Both players have been talking to Trumpy for some time, trying to convince him to commit to Northwestern.

Trumpy, though, needed no such arm-twisting. He's going right where he believes he belongs.

"It feels great, like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders," he said. "I appreciated all the attention, but I was getting tired of the recruiting process. It feels good to have it over."