Northwestern University Athletics
Signing Day Has Arrived!
1/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 6, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -- NUsports.com is set to present complete coverage of Signing Day for Wildcat fans on Wednesday, Feb. 6. Northwestern's web site is your source for official Wildcat Signing Day coverage.
Video Coverage of Signing Day
Northwestern's noon (CT) news conference will be broadcast live to all subscribers of NU's All-Access audio/video service. In addition, the popular highlight videos for every new Wildcat also will be released exclusively on NUsports.com. (Please note that ONLY members of the media can attend the news conference.)
Watch the Signing Day news conference on NUsports.com All-Access
Official News Release/Bios
Just prior to the official announcement at noon, Northwestern's official news release will be posted on NUsports.com.
Signing Day Blog
7:02 a.m. -- Good Morning! Welcome to the NUSports.com Signing Day Blog. We will keep you updated as recruits fax their National Letters of Intent (NLI's) to the football office. NU signees must fax three pages -- an NLI letter, a tender of financial aid document and a terms and condition agreement page -- to the office. Then Aaron Hosman, our new asst. director of compliance, must verify the pages (check for signatures, etc.), and then we will let you know, in order of time, who has signed.
7:14 a.m. -- Fortunately, the weatherman was a bit off on his overnight snow prediction, and we woke up to just some sleet this morning. They are still calling for a major winter storm in Chicagoland today, but thus far, just a trace of snow has fallen in Evanston.
7:27 a.m. -- One of our recruits was having some problems getting his NLI faxed to the football office, so his documents ended up arriving in our media services office. When will this process become electronic and faxing become obsolete?
7:38 a.m. -- Dayne Brown, asst. director of football operations, just stopped by our office to pick up the NLI. We both agree, if we can file our income taxes online, why can't a recruit send an NLI online?
7:51 a.m. -- OK ... I'll give the weatherman a break. It is starting to snow pretty hard now. Just hope it doesn't get too bad, because we need to get downtown this afternoon to ESPN SportsZone to celebrate this year's signing class!
8:06 a.m. -- Several NLI's have arrived! Hold on...
8:36 a.m. -- Remember that you can watch Coach Fitzgerald's noon (CT) news conference today on NUsports.com All-Access. If you're not an All-Access subscriber, there will be some clips of the news conference posted on our site later today, along with all the video highlights of each signee. The noon news conference, which is being held at the Nicolet Football Center, is a media-only event. The Northwestern Gridiron Network (NGN) event at ESPN SportsZone begins at 1 p.m. in downtown Chicago.
8:52 a.m. -- OK, the snowflakes are getting really big now. For those of you outside Chicagoland, we're having an unusually snowy winter. Today's snowfall will up our season totals to nearly 60 inches.
9:20 a.m. -- Today is not only Football Signing Day, but four other sports at NU are announcing classes, too -- women's cross country, field hockey, men's and women's soccer. Releases will be posted later on NUsports.com, but sorry, no blogs for those sports.
9:43 a.m. -- OK, we've reached a lull. Still waiting on a couple more NLI's. Once we get those, then we can start cranking out the news releases. If you're attending today's NGN function downtown, Jean Yale will have copies waiting for you.
10:44 a.m. -- Still waiting on another one or two NLI's. After today, the football focus will be on the 2008 spring season, which gets underway Monday, March 31. Practices will continue for the next four weeks and the Spring Game is scheduled for Saturday, April 26. Time is TBA.
11:19 a.m. -- Well, our Signing Day blog is over for now. Time to get ready for a news conference. Thanks for reading, and we'll see you at the Spring Game on April 26! Go 'Cats!
National Letters of Intent Received
7:01 a.m. -- EVAN LUXENBURG ... The Wildcats' first NLI is from their defensive tackle from suburban Cleveland. Good job Evan.
7:01 a.m. -- NEAL DEITERS ... Neal is the first offensive lineman to get his NLI in. Today is supposed to be a big day for offensive line coach Bret Ingalls. And speaking of big, Neal is huge -- 6'8", 310 pounds (down from 342 pounds)!
7:01 a.m. -- BRETT NAGEL ... Brett is another local product, one of several expected to sign today. Brett is the second of six Nagel children, and how cool is this? The six Nagel kids are alphabetized by first name: Aaron (who is at Notre Dame), Brett (now a Wildcat!), Connor, Derek, Erica and Flynn.
7:01 a.m. -- CHUCK PORCELLI ... Another big lineman. 6'7" and 295 pounds. Chuck is from Montini Catholic. Welcome!
7:01 a.m. -- JEFF RADEK ... And another lineman! I wonder if Coach Ingalls is having a contest to see which o-linemen get their NLI's in first? Extra sprints in Kenosha for the last one??
7:01 a.m. -- BRIAN MULROE ... Guess what?? Yep, another o-lineman! Brian is from nearby Loyola Academy in Wilmette and has been touted as one of the state's top players. He is expected to play guard for the 'Cats. Brian also was the first member of this class to orally commit to NU last April.
7:06 a.m. -- NICK ADAMLE ... Seven commitments, and we just got our fifth and final o-lineman. A name familiar to every Wildcat fan. Nick Adamle, nephew of Mike Adamle -- one of NU's greats and a terrific Wildcat booster -- is the latest commit! When was the last time NU signed five or more offensive linemen in one class?? 1997 -- NU signed six offensive linemen that year.
7:06 a.m. -- JEREMY EBERT ... Jeremy, like Brett Nagel, was a quarterback in high school, but will play a different position -- wide receiver -- for the 'Cats. Jeremy and Brett join Andrew Brewer, Lee Coleman, Eric Peterman, Brendan Smith and Brad Phillips as former prep QB's who are now playing a different position for NU.
7:18 a.m. -- HUNTER BATES ... Hunter was the one having fax issues, so he should probably be higher on our arrival list. We'll put an asterisk next to his entry. Hunter, who is a triplet, has a famous NFL dad ... Bill Bates, the long-time safety (15 years!) for the Dallas Cowboys! Hunter also played two years of high school football with some quarterback named Tim Tebow.
7:25 a.m. -- ALEX DANIEL ... The lone running back in this year's class is on board. Alex rushed for 4,364 career yards and 46 TD's at Roswell High in suburban Atlanta. Welcome Alex.
7:28 a.m. -- BRIAN ARNFELT ... NU's lone defensive end signee and their only Minnesota recruit is on board. That reminds me -- 'Cats and the Golden Gophers (do you know they're coached by Tubby Smith??) meet at 6 p.m. tonight at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
7:30 a.m. -- DAVID NWABUISI ... David wins this year's prize for the name most likely to be botched by PA announcers at football stadiums. David's last name is pronounced wah-BOO-see -- the "N" is silent. Not too difficult, huh?
7:43 a.m. -- MARTIN BAYLESS ... Our second straight Texas recruit is inked. Although Martin spent just one year in Texas, after previously attending Castle Rock High School near San Diego. His dad, Martin Bayless Sr., played safety for the San Diego Chargers and is now an assistant coach for the Texans.
7:50 a.m. -- CALEB HARPER ... Caleb is one of four defensive backs expected to sign today. He is also NU's first Tennessee product since Germantown's Devin Patterson was a member of the Wildcats in 2001.
8:08 a.m. -- JERAVIN MATTHEWS ... Perhaps the fastest player in this year's recruiting class -- make sure to check out his video highlights! -- is inked. He is from "Canon-Mac" High School outside Pittsburgh. You gotta love his high school's nickname -- the Big Macs! A marketing man's dream.
8:09 a.m. -- STONE PINCKNEY ... With a first name like his, he's gotta be a linebacker, right? And he is! Welcome Stone.
8:30 a.m. -- JARED CARPENTER ... Jared is used to winning -- he won 50 games during his prep career and played in three state championship games! And he just had to end up at Northwestern -- his high school's nickname? The Purples.
9:09 a.m. -- DEMETRIUS DUGAR ... Despite his smaller stature (5'11", 175 pounds), Demetrius can apparently hit. This is what is high school coach, Bob Jones, says about him: "Dugar hits like Jack Tatum in Steve Urkel's body." Enough said.
11:10 a.m. -- DEMETRIUS FIELDS ... Back-to-back by the Demetrius' -- and they are both from Texas. Hmmm.
11:54 a.m. -- QUENTIN WILLIAMS ... Nate's "little" brother is on board! The class is complete!
NUsports.com Signing Day Coverage
• Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald live news conference
• Immediate notification of letters of intent received by Northwestern's department of athletics
• Official news release and signee bios by NU Media Services
• Individual signee highlight videos
Previous Signing Day Coverage
2007 Signing Day Coverage
2006 Signing Day Coverage
2005 Signing Day Coverage
2004 Signing Day Coverage
2003 Signing Day Coverage
