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Rod Carey and his staff at Northern Illinois had a successful week on the recruiting trail, snatching three prospects from the midwest to play football in DeKalb.
The first commit of the week was three-star athlete Jordan Rowell. He announced on Tuesday his verbal commitment to Northern Illinois.
Happy to say that I have finally verbally committed to NIU #FutureHuskie #blessup pic.twitter.com/o6Jcd1qnb2
— Jordan Rowell (@cruzer242) June 14, 2016
According to 247Sports, Rowell held two offers from Northern Illinois and Iowa, but received interest from many others such as Texas, Oregon, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.
Rowell, standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 195 pounds currently attends Immaculate Conception High School in Elmhurst, Illinois.
He has been described by scouts as a good sized athlete with solid straight line speed. In high school Rowell was more of a running back, but with his instincts and tackling ability, transitioning to defensive back shouldn’t be much of a problem.
You can check out Jordan Rowell’s highlight tape below.
The second commitment of the week came last Wednesday, when 2-star tight end Liam Soraghan announced his intentions on Twitter.
Officially a Husky! ⚪️⚫️ pic.twitter.com/sHuvwM7snc
— Liam Soraghan (@liamsoraghan) June 15, 2016
Soraghan is a 6-foot-7, 235 pound tight end/defensive end from Dearborn, Michigan. He currently attends Divine Child High School. He is rated a two-star recruit by 247Sports Composite, however the 247Sports site rates him as a three-star recruit. NIU is his only reported offer. NIU’s plans to use him as a tight end or defensive end are unclear at this time.
Check out Soraghan’s play below before he hits the gridiron in DeKalb.
Running back from Chicago, Michael Kennedy rounded out the superb week for Northern Illinois by committing on Thursday.
Excited to say that I will be continuing my athletic and academic career at Northern Illinois University #Gohuskies pic.twitter.com/DTguWaZpk7
— Michael Kennedy (@mike_kennedy5) June 16, 2016
Michael Kennedy checks in at 6-foot-2 and weighs 195 pounds. He resides in Chicago, Illinois and attends Mount Carmel High School. Kennedy attends the same high school as Heisman trophy finalist Jordan Lynch, as well as 2016 signee QB Anthony Thompson. NIU was his only reported offer.
By watching his highlights, you can see that Kennedy is rather explosive and anyone familiar with high school football in the Chicagoland area knows how much legendary coach Frank Lenti likes to use his running backs. It is fair to say that NIU is getting a workhorse and potential diamond in the rough, in Kennedy.
Take a look at Kennedy’s Junior season highlights below.