Northwestern lands four-star Texas TE Chico Holt
Northwestern's May 13-15 official weekend just keeps paying dividends.
The Wildcats beat out big-time Big Ten rivals Michigan and Wisconsin to land four-star Houston tight end Chico Holt on Thursday.
Holt is the 11th of 13 uncommitted official visitors who were on campus for that official visit in May to wind up a Wildcat. He is also the fourth four-star player in the Wildcats' class, which was ranked eighth in the nation before Holt's addition.
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2023 CLASS: Commitments l Team Rankings l Official Visitors
MAY/JUNE OFFICIAL VISITORS TO COMMIT TO NORTHWESTERN: DT Tyler Gant l OL Jordan Knox l DT Dylan Roberts l DE Michael Kilbane l OL Alex Doost l CB Cole Shivers l CB Joshua Fussell l LB Justin Cryer l DE Mason Robinson l S Damon Walters l TE Camp Magee l DE Ashton Porter l WR Ricky Ahumaraeze
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Holt, the No. 19 tight end in the nation, collected at total of 25 offers, including five Big Ten schools and home-state Texas. He visited Northwestern in April for an unofficial and then came back for his official in May.
But Holt took his time with the process, taking official visits to Cal, Michigan and Wisconsin in June. Michigan, which was long viewed as the favorite to land him, hosted him on June 10. Then last weekend he went up to Wisconsin, which has a pretty good track record developing tight ends.
Holt decided that none of them could match the football-and-academic combination that the Wildcats offered.
It didn’t hurt that Holt had a friend on campus at Northwestern. He comes from the same Houston Strake Jesuit program that produced current Northwestern tight end Thomas Gordon.
Holt is the second tight end in the Wildcats' class, joining three-star Camp Magee, who committed on June 5. Both are tall, athletic prospects who can play the flex or H-back position and may lead to more of the two-tight end sets that offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian favors.
"His big frame is not a sacrifice for athleticism as he can route-run with the best of defensive backs, and his strong hands make him difficult to defend," said Rivals' recruiting analyst Nick Harris.
Northwestern's 20-member 2023 class is on a historic pace. The group is ranked in the Top 10 for the first time in the Rivals era that goes back two decades.