FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[matblake]

Interesting that IWU lands two guys from Naperville Central.  Does anyone have the story behind it? 

My view (which is always through my red and white glasses), is that  DuPage Valley kids are likely to pick North Central (or Wheaton) given the closeness to home, and recent success.

I think overall in D3 kids are looking at the school as a whole, not just the football team.   Perhaps IWU offers an academic program they were interested in that North Central doesn't have.  Maybe they wanted to be further away from home.  Pehaps they weren't recruited by North Central.   Playing football of course is going to be a factor, but with the wide range of college football programs in D3 in Illinois/Wisconsin/Iowa/Michigan/Ohio/Minnesota, there is no shortage of schools to choose from.

[02 Warhawk]

Maybe they think they'll get a better opportunity to play at IWU. At the same time being on a team that competes for the CCIW crown regularly.

Like many prominent programs in DIII, I'm sure NCC has a lot of strong competition for starting rolls each year. This is good for the program b/c it creates depth, but it sometimes makes athletes enroll/transfer to another institution where they're guaranteed to play/start on a more consistent basis. Compared to just sharing the roll with someone that is equally or more talented.

[79jaybird]

Many of the Dupage schools lost quality players because the schools were "too close to home" and in their backyards.  This is one reason why the perimeter schools had tons of kids from the MSL,CSL, DVC, confs.

It's nice to read about recruits and who's getting committments from who, but until they strap up the pads and play in the reg. season, it's not that important.

[CardinalAlum]

Interesting that IWU lands two guys from Naperville Central.  Does anyone have the story behind it? 

My view (which is always through my red and white glasses), is that  DuPage Valley kids are likely to pick North Central (or Wheaton) given the closeness to home, and recent success.

Jaybird hit it on the head!   . Many Naperville kids want to "get away".  Luckily, many come back after giving it a try elsewhere. 

[nccfac]

To see the 2011 recruits for North Central just go to this link.
http://northcentralcardinals.com/sports/2011/5/17/FB_0517114908.aspx?path=football

[ncc_fan]

Interesting that IWU lands two guys from Naperville Central.  Does anyone have the story behind it? 

My view (which is always through my red and white glasses), is that  DuPage Valley kids are likely to pick North Central (or Wheaton) given the closeness to home, and recent success.

Jaybird hit it on the head!   . Many Naperville kids want to "get away".  Luckily, many come back after giving it a try elsewhere. 

Case in point:  The NCC recruits include just four guys from Naperville:  three from Naperville Central (one a transfer from Illinois Wesleyan), one from Waubonsie Valley, and none from Naperville North or Neuqua Valley.

[matblake]

Quick video of Coach Swider talking about this Spring including the ministry trips, having NFL guys around, and the size of this year's recruiting class.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWKRhx5E124&feature=channel_video_title

[robertgoulet]

After looking at the NCC recruits here are a couple of thoughts, as well as who I feel the standouts in the class are:

A few NCC recruits were DuPage County All-Area 1st teamers: Caleb Bednarz (DB) WWS, Ryan Kent (RB) York, Will Sayer (ILB) Naperville Central

http://football.dailyherald.com/story/?id=417024

Standouts:

----DB/PR Caleb Bednarz from Wheaton-Warrenville South: Chicago Tribune All-State, DuPage County All-Area
http://www.chicagotribune.com/ct-sports-high-school-football-caleb-bednarz-html,0,2275849.htmlpage

----LB/WR Jordan Jurasevich from Crown Point (IN): All-Conference, IFCA All-State (Top 50), AP All-State (Honorable Mention)

----QB Max Matthews from St. Joe's (IN): HM AP All State 2010, Tribune All Area 2010, IFCA All State Senior Team 2010, All Diocese 2010, NIC 1st Team 2010, Most Valuable Back 2010
http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2011-05-02/sports/29497983_1_college-football-max-matthews-quarterback

----CB Brandon Salemi from St Xavier Univ (Glenbard North): 2-time Unanimous All DuPage Valley Conference, 2009 All-Area, and 2009 2nd Team IHSFCA All-State.

----LB Will Sayer from Naperville Central: 2-time All Dupage Valley Conference selection, Chicago Tribune All-State (Honorable Mention)


5 NW Indiana kids in the NCC class, which is something I can't recall seeing (I may not have been paying as much attention, I suppose). Also, it appears NCC's reach now extends to Alaska, as they have 1 Alaskan recruit incoming.

[sflzman]

To see the 2011 recruits for North Central just go to this link.
http://northcentralcardinals.com/sports/2011/5/17/FB_0517114908.aspx?path=football

Is North Central usually this Illinois-heavey with recruits? I would have thought that after being #3  in the final poll you could get a few more commitments outside of Illinois. And especially more that just the 2 from Indiana....

[robertgoulet]

To see the 2011 recruits for North Central just go to this link.
http://northcentralcardinals.com/sports/2011/5/17/FB_0517114908.aspx?path=football

Is North Central usually this Illinois-heavey with recruits? I would have thought that after being #3  in the final poll you could get a few more commitments outside of Illinois. And especially more that just the 2 from Indiana....

If I am not mistaken, they normally are heavy on IL kids. They actually have 5 from NW Indiana this year, as well as 1 from Alaska.

I would also assume that NCC is getting to the point where they should be able to pull some talent from other states due to their success. That being said, their current footprint is such that they don't really NEED to go out of state. There is plenty of talent in the Chicagoland area.

[matblake]

Doug Rothschild gets mentioned on the Chicago Bears website.   It's with the first question regarding players that have worn number 54.
http://www.chicagobears.com/news/ChalkTalkStory.asp?story_id=7872

[HoosierRedMan]

I was in Kenosha and drove by to see the renovations of Art Kekker Field and all I could say was WOW!  The new east stands, which will now be the home side just looked incredible.  This place is now one of the top stadiums in the conference.  The new press box is also pretty sweet.  Can't wait for the home opener in September.

[79jaybird]

For press boxes, as a visiting team PBP broadcaster I would rank the boxes and I base this on roominess, view of the stadium, and resources

1) Augustana
2) Wheaton
3) Elmhurst
4) North Park
5) CARTHAGE (This was the old before the renovations
6) N. CENTRAL
7) Millikin
8) IWU 

I hate being sandwiched right next to other broadcasts and you could hear exciting plays in your own ear muffs.

[devildog29]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/highschool/football/ct-spt-0601-prep-gillespie-retires-20110531,0,3700706.story

I used to go to Gordie Gillespie's baseball camps all the time when I was a kid.  What a legend in Illinois football and baseball. 

[emma17]

I saw the preseason rankings posted on the WIAC board from 02.  Not sure where he got them, but I'm a bit worried to copy and paste them here for fear of reprisal against the messenger.