Northern Illinois Recruiting Outlook

Northern Illinois:

• Spencer Tears, H L Richards (Oak Lawn, IL), WR, 6-2/175 , 3 star 
• Nathan Veloz, Oak Creek (Oak Creek, WI), OG, 6-4/310, no star  
• D.J. Brown, North Little Rock (North Little Rock, AR), APB, 5-9/177, 3 star  
• Kyle Pugh, Bloom (Chicago Heights, IL), ILB, 6-1/215, 3 star  
• Josh Corcoran, Lakeville South (Lakeville, MN), ILB, 6-3/219, 3 star  
• Steven Lee, Centennial (Champaign, IL), WR, 6-3/215, 2 star  
• Joe Riggins, Cardinal Gibbons (Fort Lauderdale, FL), OLB, 6-2/205, 2 star  
• Vincent Hughes, Franklin (Franklin, WI), OT, 6-6/255, 3 star  
• Daniel Crawford, Dakota (Macomb, MI), TE, 6-3/230, 2 star  
• Richie Cooper, Hallandale (Hallandale, FL), WR, 5-11/178, 2 star  
• Sutton Smith, Francis Howell (Saint Charles, MO), OLB, 6-0/193, 3 star  
• Adam Buirge, Park Center (Minneapolis, MN), WR, 6-0/180, 3 star  
• Alec Ingold, Bay Port (Green Bay, WI), DUAL QB, 6-2/220, 2 star  
• Ryan Roberts, Northville (Pinckney, MI), TE, 6-6/240, 3 star  
• Daniel Santacaterina, Geneva Community (Geneva, IL), PRO QB, 6-2/200, 2 star  
• Jeffrey Hill, Miramar (Hollywood, FL), CB, 5-8.5/165, 2 star  
• Max Morris, Dowling Catholic (West Des Moines, IA), WDE, 6-2/235, 2 star  
• Cassius Grady, Arlington (Arlington, TX), CB, 5-10/175, 2 star  
• Marcus Jones, Brother Rice (Oak Lawn, IL), RB, 5-10/185 , 2 star 
• Jordan Steckler, Two Rivers (Two Rivers, WI), OT, 6-5/293, no star  
• Marcus Kelly, West (Waukesha, WI), SDE, 6-4/230, no star

The Huskies were very successful on the recruiting trail with the 76th ranked recruiting class in the nation, second in the MAC behind Western Michigan. According to 247, the Huskies have eight 3-star commits that include prospects from nine different states. Nearby Wisconsin was the place to go with 5 commits coming from that state alone.

The Huskies had yet another successful season in 2014 with an 11-3 overall record, MAC championship, and a trip to the Boca Raton Bowl to face Marshall. NIU was unable to hang with the explosive Marshall offense in falling 52-23 in the matchup. The Huskies return a a large portion of their talent due to their ability to redshirt most players in their first year on the team.

2014 Returning Starters: (6 or more starts in 2014):
Offense (6):
Aidan Conlon (13 starts, OL), Joel Bouagnon (7 starts, 655 rushing, 5 TD, RB), Juwan Brescacin (11 starts, 31 catches, 445 yards, 6 TD, WR), Drew Hare (11 starts, 900 rushing, 8 TD, 2,322 passing, 18 TD, QB), Andrew Ness (13 starts, 1st team All-MAC, OL), Desroy Maxwell (6 starts, TE)

Defense (9):
Anthony Brooks (7 starts, 28 tkl, 2 INT, 1 TD, 6 PD, DB), Perez Ford (13 starts, 57 tkl, 9 tfl, 5 sacks, 3 ff, 2nd team All-MAC, DL), William Lee (13 starts, 22 tkl, 3 tfl, 2.5 sacks, 1 ff, DL), Rasheen Lemon (13 starts, 90 tkl, 3 tfl, 2.5 sacks, 2 ff, 3rd team All-MAC, LB), Paris Logan (13 starts, 77 tkl, 3 INT, 15 pbu, 18 PD, 1 ff, 1st team All-MAC, DB), Boomer Mays (12 starts, 75 tkl, 9 tfl, 1 ff, 2nd team All-MAC, LB), Marlon Moore (12 starts, 99 tkl, 3.5 tfl, 1 INT, 2 ff, 1 fr, DB), Albert Smalls (6 starts, 21 tkl, 2 INT, 4 pbu, 6 pd, DB), Corey Thomas (12 starts, 35 tkl, 2.5 tfl, 1 sack, 1 ff, DL)