‘Edgy’ Tim: What’s the latest news in area football recruiting?
Willowbrook junior interior offensive lineman Liam Pagan (6-foot-4, 300 pounds) had a strong spring and summer and raised his college recruiting stock.
“This summer I was able to camp at Vanderbilt, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio State, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Nebraska and also Iowa,” Pagan said. “I have offers now from Florida Atlantic, Boston College, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Miami (Fla.), Arizona State and Oklahoma State. A lot of those offers came in during the spring. The offers from Tennessee and Oklahoma came in when I camped at each school.”
Pagan is the younger brother of former Willowbrook offensive lineman Enrique Cruz, who played at Syracuse and Kansas before being selected in the fifth round by the San Francisco 49ers in April’s NFL draft.
“My big brother has been a big influence and a mentor,” Pagan said. “He has helped me with my game, just by being there and letting me ask questions. We watch film together and I’m always asking him how I can improve my game. I can also ask him questions about things like recruiting and he’s given me great advice. He tells me to just keep focused and work hard on my game. He also told me that my journey is different from everyone else and to just trust the process.”
Barrett adds Ole Miss offer
St. Charles East junior offensive tackle Liam Barrett (6-foot-7, 255 pounds) continues to add a steady flow of scholarship offers. Barrett just picked up his first SEC offer from Ole Miss and breaks down his latest recruiting news.
“I’ve also added new offers from both Purdue and UConn,” he said.
“Ole Miss is a huge offer for me and I was a little bit in shock when they reached out. I’m just very excited to add an offer from Ole Miss. It’s a historically great school and winning program and they always get tremendous fan support. I've never been to Ole Miss so I’m excited to head out and make a game-day visit.”
Ole Miss wouldn’t be the only game-day visit for Barrett this season.
“Right now I’m still set to make a game-day visit to Indiana and Iowa State,” he said. “I’m also now looking at getting out to Ole Miss for a game-day visit. The timing for me getting out to make game-day visits will most likely be later in the season. I want to keep my focus on my team and my season. Once the season ends, that’s when I'll make sure to visit some games.”
Osterhues learns from camps
Barrington junior running back Lamar Osterhues (5-foot-7, 170 pounds) has been a varsity mainstay for the Broncos and head coach Joe Sanchez since midway through his freshman season. Osterhues, who hopes to play football and run track in college, breaks down his latest recruiting news.
“I have offers so far from Iowa State, Miami of Ohio, North Dakota State and also New Mexico,” he said. “Earlier this summer I was able to go and camp at Wisconsin, Indiana and also Northwestern. All three camps went well and I was able to learn something new from each camp.
“The Indiana camp and visit was just super cool. It was great to get to learn from the national champs and see how they do things. The Northwestern camp was just a lot of fun. They have an amazing indoor facility at Northwestern and really everything there was impressive. Wisconsin is another school that is just great. They are Running Back U., and the Wisconsin coaches said they like my ability to be elusive and shifty. All of the college coaches are all excited to see some of my early-season video this fall.”