June was an unprecedented recruiting month for Northwestern -- and for all of college football. It opened on June 1, when prospects could visit campuses across the country for the first time in 15 months. It ended today, with the start of another recruiting dead period.
For Northwestern, the previous four weeks brought a seemingly endless stream of official and unofficial visitors. Twenty-eight official Class of 2022 visitors came through Evanston in that time. If you add unofficial visitors from all classes, prospects for on-campus evaluations and participants in one of the Wildcats' five one-day camps during the month, and the number is well into the hundreds.
No one is happier that this month is over than the coaches, who will finally get to take a day off.
We're going to take a look at the official visitors who traveled to NU over the last four weeks. Northwestern welcomed its first batch of 10 official visitors on June 4-6. Their recruiting activities ended last Friday, when they landed two commitments, capping a crazy week that saw the Wildcats add six players to their 2022 class.
How happy were the Wildcat coaches about their eight new commitments? They didn't host any official visitors on the last weekend of the month. They are content with the commits they already have, and the few that they will likely add in the coming days or weeks.
Let's take a look back at what was a wild month of June for the Wildcats.
THE COMMITMENTS
Official visit: June 4-6
Commitment date: June 10
Official visit: June 4-6
Commitment date: June 15
Official visit: June 18-20
Commitment date: June 21
Official visit: June 18-20
Commitment date: June 23
Official visit: June 18-20
Commitment date: June 23
Official visit: June 18-20
Commitment date: June 23
Official visit: June 18-20
Commitment date: June 25
Official visit: June 15-17
Commitment date: June 25
OFFICIAL VISITS
June 4-6
Summary: Northwestern hosted a total of 10 official visitors on the first weekend of the month, but two of them -- wide receiver Reggie Fleurima and tight end Chris Petrucci -- were already Wildcat commits. Northwestern wound up landing two of the eight uncommitted prospects on the visit, but that number could rise because a couple more could still decide to become Wildcats. Just one of the eight has committed to another school so far.
June 11-13
Summary: Northwestern was saddled with a bagel on the second official visit weekend. They welcomed seven official visitors, but because offensive line commit Deuce McGuire was along for the ride, just six of them were uncommitted. The Wildcats whiffed on all six, as none of the prospects committed to the Wildcats, and none are expected to, either. Two of the six prospects have already committed other schools.
June 15-17
Summary: The Wildcats had three players in for a mid-week official visit in the middle of the month. They have already landed one, as Howard just announced his commitment last Friday. However, the other two are still on the board and could yet become Wildcats. Stay tuned.
June 17-19
Summary: Northwestern hosted athlete Evan Smith for a Thursday-to-Saturday visit to accommodate his schedule, so his time on campus overlapped with the schedule of the visitors before and after him. Smith just returned from an official visit to Duke over the weekend and told WildcatReport that he is still undecided. He will choose from among Northwestern, Duke and Tulane.
June 18-20
Summary: Talk about hitting the jackpot. This was by far Northwestern's most successful official visit weekend -- and that makes sense because it came closer to the end of the month, when most prospects had already taken several visits and were ready to make decisions. The Wildcats hosted seven official visitors and landed five of them: Fitzgerald, Jaquez, Octavian Smith, Braden Turner and Devin Turner. Northwestern is still in the running for four-star RB Alston, one of the two visitors who are not already Wildcats.
BY THE NUMBERS
32% - Northwestern's conversion rate on official visitors (8 of 25). That number is expected to rise in the coming days/weeks as more visitors make their decisions. We already know of one visitor who is a silent commitment.
25 - Uncommitted official visitors Northwestern hosted in June. Add Fleurima, Petrucci and McGuire, who were already commitments when they visited, and the number jumps to 28.
14 - Number of Northwestern official visitors who have yet to make a verbal commitment to any school.
8 - Total number of verbal commitments to the Wildcats this month.
7 - Number of states represented among the eight commitments (two from Texas and one each from Kansas, California, New Jersey, Maryland, Alabama and Florida).
6 - Number of commitments last week, one of the best weeks in Northwestern recruiting history.
5 - Number of defensive backs the Wildcats' Sky Team landed in June: safeties Devin Turner, Fitzgerald and Howard, and cornerbacks Smith and Braden Turner. (And they could still add one more corner).
3 - Number of commitments last Wednesday, June 23. Jaquez, Fitzgerald and Smith all announced their commitments within hours of each other.
1 - Number of offensive commitments in June. Herzog, a lineman, was the only offensive player among the eight pledges.
