Cats land 2023 forward Blake Barkley

Northwestern landed the third commitment of its 2023 class, and its second in the last week, when 6-foot-8 forward Blake Barkley announced his verbal pledge on Sunday.

Barkley, a Morgantown, W.V., native who is playing for Putnam (Conn.) Science Academy this season, just took his official visit to Northwestern last week. He chose the Wildcats over a total of 18 other offers.

Northwestern was the only Power Six school on Barkley's list, but he was getting interest from other major conference schools since transferring to Putnam Science, a member of the prestigious NEPSAC conference.

His only other official visit was to Akron, the week before his trip to Evanston.

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Barkley told WildcatReport that he had a "great time" on his official visit on the weekend of Sept. 30. He also liked head coach Chris Collins' plan for using him in his system.

"Coach really just showed how much they want me and where I’d fit in," explained Barkley. "He said he could see me playing similar roles to Robbie Beran. He said we are not the same player, but there are similarities."

Barkley, who can play either the 3 or 4 position, joins a pair of combo guards in the Wildcats' 2023 class. Jordan Clayton committed to the program in August, while Parker Strauss made his verbal pledge last week.

Barkley was one of three official visitors in September for Northwestern, and the Wildcats have now landed two of them, Barkley and Strauss. Combo guard Cameron Carr is the only one who remains uncommitted and is expected to choose between Northwestern and Kansas State.

None of the Wildcats' commitments have been ranked by Rivals, and Northwestern was the only Power Six offer for both Barkley and Strauss.

Clayton, Strauss and Barkley are expected to sign in the early signing period that begins on Nov. 9.