Northwestern announces 2009 football signing class
Head coach Pat Fitzgerald and the Northwestern University football program announced Wednesday the signing of 18 football recruits to National Letters of Intent.
Once again, the Wildcats' recruiting efforts started and finished locally, with Northwestern receiving commitments from five Chicagoland recruits to go along with 13 signees from across the country. The Wildcats' five local commitments gives Northwestern a total of 16 Chicagoland signees in the last three years and ups their current roster of Illinois players to 34.
"Our focus always begins and ends with Chicagoland and we are thrilled with the commitments we received from our local student-athletes," said Fitzgerald. "We also tapped into some of our other rich recruiting pipelines, most notably Ohio, where we signed four players.
"These 18 student-athletes come from great families and are outstanding young men that fit the Northwestern mold and possess tremendous character. The culture of our team sets us apart from other programs and these new Wildcats are a perfect fit for our family.
"I want to thank our coaching staff and players, who deserve a great deal of credit for attracting this class. Our current student-athletes represent our University so well and they really do a great job of educating these young men on what it means and takes to be a Wildcat. Our coaching staff, led by recruiting coordinator Adam Cushing, did a fantastic job with this class. I also want to thank our talented staff who assisted with the recruitment process: Nolan Jones, Sharrod Everett, Niel Stopczynski and Ryan Kessenich."
This year's class is once again balanced-nine on defense, eight on offense and one specialist (place-kicker).
Signing day notes:
• The breakdown on NU's signees, by position: linebackers (4), defensive line (3), offensive line (3), running backs (2), safeties (2),
quarterback (1), superback (1), wide receiver (1) and place-kicker (1).
• Northwestern added four more student-athletes from Ohio, giving the Wildcats a total of 13 players from the Buckeye state on their
current roster, which ranks second behind the 34 from Illinois.
• The Wildcats signed three more offensive linemen, after bringing in five linemen a year ago. With the loss of just one starter (Keegan
Kennedy) from the 2008 offensive line, there should be tremendous competition for spots on next year's two-deep.
• One of this year's 18 signees is linebacker Damien Proby, who hails from North Las Vegas, Nev. He is the first NU football player
from Nevada since defensive end Kurt Lundergreen (Zephyr Cove, Nev.) was on the NU roster from 1986-88.
• Allen Trieu, a recruiting analyst for Scout.com, has called Northwestern's 2009 signing class the "most underrated class" among
Midwest FBS schools.
• Six of the 18 signees attended one of Northwestern's summer football camps.
Northwestern's 2009 recruiting class
Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School
Anthony Battle DE 6-3 240 Dolton, Ill./ Mount Carmel
Jeff Budzien PK 5-10 145 Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead
Davon Custis DE 6-3 215 Gahanna, Ohio/St. Francis De Sales
Arby Fields RB 5-9 190 Alta Loma, Calif./Los Osos
Davion Fleming S 5-10 205 Upland, Calif./Upland
Cooper Gerami S 6-0 200 Lafayette, La./St. Thomas More
Roderick Goodlow OLB 6-2 210 Dallas, Texas/W.H. Adamson
Drew Moulton WR 5-11 165 Freeland, Mich./Midland
Taylor Paxton OG 6-5 265 Centennial, Colo./Cherry Creek
John Plasencia SB 6-5 240 Tampa, Fla./Jesuit
Damien Proby OLB 6-0 210 North Las Vegas, Nev./Cheyenne
Tim Riley OLB 6-3 215 Oswego, Ill./Oswego
Tyler Scott DE 6-4 235 Warren, Ohio/Howland
Brian Smith OT 6-7 295 Medina, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit
Will Studlien LB 6-2 220 Sunbury, Ohio/Big Walnut
Mike Trumpy RB 6-0 205 Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North
Patrick Ward OT 6-7 285 Homer Glen, Ill./Providence Catholic
Evan Watkins QB 6-6 235 Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North