Recap: Cats make the short list for five 2020 targets

Last week had to make the short list for weeks Northwestern landed on the most short lists.

The Wildcats made the cut and appeared among the finalists for five major 2021 targets in the seven-day period from April 6-13. They made the Top 6 for four of them, and the Top 7 of one other.

While popping up on a short list is no guarantee of an eventual commitment, it is still an encouraging sign and an indicator that the recruiting dead period hasn't slowed the Wildcats' recruiting momentum. Northwestern has landed three of its four 2021 commitments since the dead period was imposed, including a pair of four-stars in OL Caleb Tiernan and LB Mac Uihlein.

In case you've had problems keeping up, we've compiled them all here, in alphabetical order, along with a couple 2021s who got away and committed elsewhere during the same period.

Three-star WR Skyler Bell has Northwestern in his Top 6, along with Georgia Tech, Iowa, Rutgers, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. He told WildcatReport last week that the family atmosphere at Northwestern put the Wildcats on the list.

The No. 97 player in the nation, four-star DE T.J. Bollers is the highest-ranked player who put Northwestern among his favorites last week, along with Alabama, Cal, Iowa State, Nebraska and Wisconsin. Most surprising: Iowa, which rarely lets a top in-state recruit out of its clutches, didn't make the cut.

Northwestern is the geographical outlier in the Top 6 of two-star CB Brandon Johnson. The other finalists -- Duke, Wake Forest, Tennessee, Appalachian State and East Carolina -- are all fairly close to Newton, in northwest North Carolina.

Another four-star, Rivals250 DE, Washington's Josh McCarron, put Northwestern in his Top 6, along with Boise State, Cal, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Washington State. McCarron breaks down his top six schools in this story posted today by Rivals' Adam Gorney.

It's been a while since Northwestern landed a player from Chicago power program Mt. Carmel, but the Wildcats are in the Top 7 for three-star safety Benjamin Perry, along with Illinois, Iowa State, Louisville, Michigan State, Minnesota and Cincinnati.

It wasn't all good news for the Wildcats, as a pair of four-star, Rivals250 2021 targets committed to other programs.

The most notable miss is Peter Costelli, a big-time QB who committed to Utah on Saturday. Quarterback is a priority need for 2021 and WildcatReport identified Costelli as the program's top remaining 2021 target, so losing this battle is a blow to the Wildcats. Costelli had been scheduled for a March visit to Evanston before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled his plans.

Safety Zakee Wheatley pulled the trigger and pledged Penn State on Friday. This came as no surprise as Northwestern seemed to be on the outside looking in for Wheatley, even if he mentioned the Wildcats as one of his favorites.