Halkyard snaps up preferred walkon spot with Northwestern

Typically, at this time of year, Northwestern would be adding preferred walkons for 2019. On Saturday, the Wildcats accepted a commitment from a preferred walkon for 2020 when longsnapper Will Halkyard took special teams coach Jeff Genyk up on his offer for a roster spot.

So, how did this happen? Why would a player accept a preferred walkon spot almost a year before signing day, when an offer could come at some point down the line?

There are two parts to the answer. For one, Halkyard, from nearby Glen Ellyn (Ill.) Glenbard West, is a realist who knows that long snappers don't get scholarship offers very often. The second is that Northwestern was a perfect fit for him, anyway.

"It’s close to home and it has elite academics and athletics, which is exactly what I was looking for," Halkyard told WildcatReport on Saturday, shortly after he announced his commitment on Twitter.

Halkyard, a 6-foot-3, 200-pounder, is rated as a 4.5 (out of 5.0) prospect by Rubio Long Snapping. Rubio ranks Halkyard as the 31st-best long snapper in the nation for 2020.

"Will showed me some really good things at the Rubio Long Snapping VEGAS XXXIII Event on January 19-20, 2019," wrote Rubio on RubioLongSnapping.com. "Absolutely love his overall length and his frame. Will easily will be able to put on about fifty pounds over the next couple of years. Form is good and it will be perfect once his butt is a tad lower (back to parallel to the ground) and when he gets fully set. Getting set will help with speed and accuracy.

"Will's upside is off the charts. Moves pretty darn well on his feet. It would not surprise me at all to see Will end up in the top ten by the fall of next year."

Halkyard's potential caught the eye of Genyk who is in his second year on head coach Pat Fitzgerald's staff at NU. He went to Glenbard West in February and invited Halkyard to visit on March 9.

Halkyard visited Evanston and liked everything about the Wildcat program. The school's outstanding academics appealed to the student with a 5.37 GPA (on a 5.0 scale).

Genyk offered Halkyard the preferred walkon spot on a Friday, and Halkyard - if you'll pardon the pun - snapped it up the next day.

"Long snappers rarely get scholarships. So when they offered me the PWO, I knew that was the right school for me," stated Halkyard by text.

Halkyard chose Northwestern over interest from Minnesota, Arizona, Cincinnati and Davidson, schools that invited him to spring visits and summer camps.